Viktor Krum and the Misinformed Muggle
by Kira the Great
Summary: AU: Ekaterine Logatchov's family was murdered by Lord Voldemort and she must now live under the guise of a boy while attending Durmstrang. What will Viktor do when he realizes his new best friend is a girl and the Dark Lord is after her?
1. PART ONE: KRYSTOF URIOV

**PART ONE:**

**KRYSTOF URIOV**

_CRACK!_

"_Well, that was lovely_!" scoffed a man, brushing himself off. Normally he traveled by Floo Powder, but this was an important notice that had just come to his attention. His name was Radcliff Harrington, and he was in charge of the Department of Misinformed Muggle's section of the Ministry of Magic. Unfortunately, he dealt with Muggle children that turned out to be wizards or witches far past their eleventh birthday.

He spun his char-black umbrella over his shoulder and back around his wrist, as he always did to check his surroundings. The umbrella had been bewitched to see how many people (Muggle and wizard) were around him.

Radcliff was currently in an empty, white hallway of a hospital in Northern Russia. He had been made aware of a special case that needed his immediate attention.

He started off, using the umbrella as a cane as he walked down the hallway. Moments later, he came to the door of the room he was looking for. He knocked on it first; to see if there was anyone inside aside from the person he had come to collect.

When no one answered, he opened the door and entered the room. It was very dark, and slightly chilled. Radcliff glanced around the room, quickly finding the crack of light that strained in through the closed curtains.

"_Vho's there_?"

"_Ah, yes_," Radcliff cleared his throat and walked over to the end of the bed. "_My name is Radcliff Harrington, and I am in charge of the Department of Misinformed Muggle's, with the Ministry of Magic. Do I have the room of one Ekatrine Logachov_?"

"_You might_," came the voice again from the shadowed bed. "_Vhat can I do for you_?"

"_First off, if you don't mind, I would like to open the curtains…I prefer to see who I am speaking with_."

"_Be my guest_," she snorted. "_Damn nurses closed them_."

He waved his wand and the curtains drew open, revealing a white sky and falling snow. "_Much better, now then_," he turned back to the bed, his eyes falling on the girl that lie upon it, "_it has come to my attention that your…erm…accident…was, well, out of the ordinary_."

"_You mean magic_," she stated. She had shoulder-long brown hair and calm, brown eyes. Her skin was pale, but she hardly looked weak. She was neither bulky nor stick-like—she was, in simple terms, an average girl of seventeen.

"_Erm—yes, magic_."

She didn't reply, but gave a curt nod instead and looked out the window.

"_The Ministry of Magic has assigned me to your case, Miss Logachov_," he said softly. "_You see, it's not very often that a witch or wizard appears _after_ they've turned eleven_."

"_Of course not_," she replied coolly. "_How much of J.K. Rowling's book's are true_?"

"_Excuse me_?"

"_Don't pretend you don't know_," she stated, carefully walking her tongue around the English words. "_I haff read them—so has most of the Muggle vorld. How much of vhat she vrote was accurate_?"

Needless to say, Ratcliff was taken aback by the question. Rowling was one of their best, an expert on Muggles and their way of life. Her passion, however, was writing. She had spoken to the Minister of Magic and asked if she could start a novel about the Boy Who Lived and publish it to the Muggle world. Approval had been given, and she had spent the last couple of years writing about the secret wizarding community that existed beyond the boundaries of Muggles.

"_Vell_?"

"_E-excuse me_," he said softly, "_but no one has ever asked me that before. And, as it stands, she is quite accurate, indeed. But don't go believing it all right away…as I'm sure you'll learn in time, there are some thing's that she had to—erm—_improvise_ upon_."

She nodded curtly. "_Of course. So, vhat are you planning to do vith me_?"

Radcliff looked at her bruised and blotched skin, tempted to heal her himself. However, if they walked out and she was healed, they would draw unwanted attention to themselves. "_You do realize that first we will have to take care of the accident, correct_?"

Ekatrine's eyes shifted down and she looked intently at the floor. In a very small voice, she said, "_Yes_."

"_Are you well enough to walk_?"

She nodded.

"_Very well then, shall we go_?"

Ekatrine stood from the bed. She had refused to let the nurses change her, and was still dressed in her Muggle clothes.

"_Is there anything we need to get from your home_?" he questioned tenderly.

The girl didn't say anything.

"_Well, I supposed not…_" he motioned at the door and it flicked open. "_Come, let's get you to the Ministry…_"

The two left the white room, and the door shut with a click behind them.

An hour later, Ekatrine was standing awkwardly in a giant room. She and the man who had come to retrieve her were waiting for the Minister of Magic to appear (who, at this very time, was Fudge).

"_I'm very sorry he's late_," said Radcliff. He was compulsivly looking at his wristwatch, his dark eyes darting around the room.

She didn't reply. He had been apologizing for the past forty-five minutes, and she was tired of speaking.

Finally, the door into the room opened and the Minister walked in, wiping sweat from his face with a handkerchief. "_Sorry, sorry…was tied up…busy, busy…well, is this her_?"

"_Yes, sir_," replied Radcliff. "_Ekatrine Logachov_."

Fudge walked over and leaned in, looking right into the girls' eyes. "_Hmm…_"

Ekatrine gritted her teeth, annoyed by the short mans abrupt interest in her. A vase nearby exploded in a shower of blue porcelain.

Fudge pulled away and said calmly, "_Rapario_." The vase, as though sucked backwards through time, pulled itself together and placed itself back on the small, rickety table it had been standing on. "_Very interesting…now, then_," he motioned at the desk and two chairs that had been in the room, "_let us begin_."

They all sat down, and Fudge pulled out a piece of parchment. He began to scribble upon it with a quill. "_Parent's names'_?"

Ekatrine kept her eyes focused as best as she could on a plant behind Fudge's head as she spoke, "_Boris and Olga_."

He nodded, scratching the names down. "_Age of deaths_?"

She closed her eyes and replied in as calm a tone as she could muster, "_Thirty-eight and thirty-four_."

"_Very young_," murmured Fudge. He looked genuinely sad, as though he remembered the two magic folk.

Ekatrine squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to let the tears fall.

"_Now then_," Fudge placed the parchment on his desk and leaned over, looking right at the girl. She let her eyes open, her tears rejected. "_We need to figure out what school you're going to attend_."

"_Blatbang is the closest witch academy to her home_," suggested Radcliff. "_She could attend there_."

"_No, no_," Fudge replied, his eyes still trained on the girl before him. He seemed to know something that neither of the other two knew. "_I think that would be right where He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would look first…no, no…she needs someplace where she can _hide."

"_Excuse me, sir_?" asked Radcliff, readjusting his umbrella.

"_Things_," Fudge said very softly, "_I cannot say…but she can't go there_."

"_What about Hogwarts_?"

"_No_," Fudge said again. "_Too obvious, and besides, Mr. Potter is there, and as it stands the school is in enough danger…so long as he's there… We don't need this one going, too…_"

Ekatrine felt foul at him speaking as if she were not present. However, she had learned over the years to keep her mouth shut and watch what she said. Her parents had been very odd—keeping their voices soft whenever they spoke. They never spoke to anyone outside of the household. Ekatrine didn't even know her closest relatives.

"_Can't we place her with her father's sister_?"

"_No_!" Fudge gasped, as though the very idea were heresy. "_That's not going to work_!"

"_Excuse me_," Ekatrine said in her heavily accented tone, "_but vhat is going on_?"

Fudge blinked and though his eyes had been trained on the girl the entire time, he looked at her as though seeing her for the first time. "_Why…you didn't know, did you? Of course not. Your mother would never let anyone know…you father almost didn't know_."

"_Know what_?" Radcliff asked before Ekatrine could ask herself.

Fudges eyes shifted to him briefly. "_Her mother was a Death-Eater. _Was_, mind you. Or at least, that's what she told us…it took us a lot of time and galleons to hide her and her husband_."

Ekatrine sat stone still. She was tempted to stand and run from the room, but couldn't bring herself to move.

"_A-a Death-Eater_?" gasped Radcliff, his eyes wide. "_But…that can't be! They would be dead…you know He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would have surely killed them_!"

"_That's why we hid them_," replied Fudge carefully, his eyes once again focused on the girl before him. "_You see, Ekatrine, your parents were so afraid for your life—your mother, if I remember correctly, gave the Ministry an enormous amount of information so that she could hide you. She took a great risk_."

"_And now she's dead_," whispered Radcliff.

"_Unfortunately_," replied Fudge. "_So now, Mr. Harrington, you see why Ekatrine cannot be allowed into any of the schools He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would check. We have to hide her, and we have to hide her absolutely_."

"_Karkaroff_," said Radcliff suddenly. "_Durmstrang would be the prefect place. You-Know-Who wouldn't ever think to look for a girl in a boy's academy_!"

Fudge's face suddenly glowed, his tired eyes lighting up. "_Yes, that's right_!"

"_I can't go to a _boy's_ school_!" gasped Ekatrine. Everything she had been taught up to that moment disappeared. "_Especially one taught by that…that _traitor!"

"_Ah, I see you've heard of him_," replied Fudge with a nod. "_All the better reason to send you, I think. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named probably knows you don't trust Karkaroff, and so he won't expect us to send you to Durmstrang_!"

"_I'm a _girl_, though_!"

"_Yes, but there is such a thing as magic_!" replied Fudge excitedly.

"_The Polyjuice Potion_!" said Radcliff.

"_We don't have that long, and besides, if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was to find two students that looked the same and went to different school's under different surnames, don't you think he might get even a _little_ curious_?"

Radcliff's face fell. "_True…so how do you plan—_?"

Fudge turned on Ekatrine quickly, "_There's a spell we can use. It's a transfiguration spell—one of the best. McGonagall uses it all the time in her classes. It only lasts six hours, though…_"

"_Better than nothing_," Radcliff replied. "_Can she cast it herself_?"

Fudge nodded. "_As soon as she gets a wand, I don't see why not. Now then, what would you like to be called, Ekatrine_?"

The girl just gawked at him, her eyes wide. "_You are kidding. You can't send me to that school_!"

"_We can, and to protect you from the Dark Lord, we _will," replied Fudge darkly. "_Now, a name, please_."

"_It has to sound Slavic_!" chimed in Radcliff. "_Or else it'll be conspicuous_!"

Again she gritted her teeth. _As if I didn't know that already…_

"_Well_?"

"_Boris_," she snapped.

"_Too obvious. He'll know it's you for sure_."

"_Viktor_."

"_No, there's all ready a Viktor at the school_."

"_Viktor Krum, none-the-less_!" said Radcliff with a glow in his eyes. "_I'm sure you've heard of him_!"

She narrowed her eyes, trying to think and restraining herself from telling the bipolar wizard to shut up. "_Krystof, then_."

"_Good, good_," Fudge scribbled the name out. "_Last name_?"

Ekatrine was beginning to get annoyed. Her parents had died in the accident only a few hours ago, and these men were asking her to give up all she had left of them—her identity!

"_I know it's hard_," Fudge said, realizing what he was asking of her, almost as if he had read her mind. "_But we really need to hide you as soon as we can…besides, you need to be taught how to protect yourself incase He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named comes after you_."

_He won't come after me_, she thought calmly. _Right now, Harry Potter is his most important thought. I'm nothing to him._

"_Uriov_," she blurted finally. It was easy, and was the surname of a childhood friend.

"_Perfect_," replied Fudge quickly scrawling the name behind 'Krystof.' "_Now then, let's get you a wand…Karkaroff will need to be contacted and arrangements made…_" He stood up, the parchment in his hands. "_Harrington, take her to Diagon Alley. She needs a wand and everything else…make sure you have her under the spell, first…can't have little Ekatrine Logachov walking around in broad daylight!_" With that, the man in the bowler cap scuttled from the office.

"_He's right, let's go_," said Radcliff, standing and leading the girl from the room as well.

Ekatrine followed him, her mind trying to recall as best it could the events of her life that might suggest whether or not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named knew where she was and what had happened.

She almost doubted the accident had actually been an accident.

Ekatrine followed Radcliff through a set of iron gates and up a gravel walk to a castle. It was squattier than Hogwarts, the towers domed in onion-shaped tops. The entire building, strangely enough, was made of wood.

"_Magic wood_," said Radcliff with a smile as he looked at the young man beside him. "_It's been around since the castle was founded_."

Ekatrine ignored him. She had done plenty of research in the past few days on the castle and its current headmaster, along with whatever she could find in paper clippings. She had found a few articles recapping the Tri-Wizard Tournament from the previous year and how Viktor Krum, world-known Seeker for the Bulgarian Quidditch Team, had participated in the games.

They entered the school to find that it was also made of wood on the inside, magical fire-lit torches burned against the walls, giving the halls a homey feeling.

As they walked down the main hallway towards the Headmasters office, interested students paused and looked over at the girl-turned-boy. Ekatrine felt mildly out of place surrounded by so many people. In their fear, her parent's had had her live a very sheltered lifestyle. She had almost never left the house, unless escorted by one of them.

_It's so odd to think that they won't be watching me wherever I go…_ she thought sadly.

Before they had left the Ministry, guidelines had been set—Ekatrine was not to tell anyone who she was, no matter what the circumstances were. She was to stay a boy when in the company of anyone, even if she had to cast the spell in front of him or her. Other likewise rules had been applied to her, and she was determined to follow them, not wanting to be discovered as a girl in the company of boy as it was.

"_Iceflakes_," said Radcliff in an undertone when they had reached a large fireplace. The fire inside of it went out instantly and the two of them walked through the bricks in the back and up a set of steps.

Radcliff Harrington paused before he knocked on the giant doors before him. There was a second or two of silence, and then the doors opened.

Igor Karkaroff was at his desk, his dark eyes set upon his guests. "_Velcome_!" he said in a droll tone. "_This must be Krystof_."

Ekatrine nodded curtly, having gotten used to the name over the past day or so she'd spent at the Ministry. No one had dared call her by her real name incase _he_ was listening in.

"_Krystof, this is Viktor Krum. He vill be your mentor. I haff all ready explained to him that you are a Misinformed Muggle and haff had not magical experience before now_," Karkaroff said, obviously enjoying his power over the helpless girl. "_You vill take your daily lessons with his year, as you are seventeen, and after class-hours, he vill instruct you privately to bring you up to speed on the basics of spell-casting and broom-flying. Am I clear_?"

She nodded once. "_Yes, sir_." Her eyes shifted over to the other boy. He was hawk-nosed, heavy eyebrowed, and dark haired. However, his aura hit her as one that was not so much a sawdust brained boy, but as a boy who was smart and quite able to do anything he set his mind to.

"_Good_," Karkaroff quirked an eyebrow. "_Your trunk has been sent to your room, and you haff uniforms ready for you in your vardrobe. You vill report to your first class promptly at seven. Breakfast starts at six. Dismissed_."

Ekatrine turned to leave, expecting Radcliff to follow her, but he did not. Instead he went to discuss something with Karkaroff while Viktor escorted her from the room.

"You're in my House," Krum said coolly in Bulgarian as he led her down the hallway.

Ekatrine nodded dimly, having read somewhere that instead of teachers being the Heads of House in Durmstrang, the students were. There was one student chosen from each house (usually the current Quidditch Captain) to be the Head of their House.

Krum had been his Houses lead for nearly two years.

They walked along the squatted passages, Ekatrine expecting to see a ghost or two, however, there were none.

"You know how to play Quidditch?" he asked abruptly.

"I've read of it," she replied truthfully, trying to remember that she looked like a boy and thusly needed to sound and act as one too. "But I've always wanted to play."

"Have you ever flown before?"

"No."

He merely nodded as he turned this way and that. Finally they reached a giant door. Krum lifted his wand and said quickly, "Snarata."

The door swung open.

"You'll need to remember that to get into our Common Room," he said as he strode into the room.

Ekatrine followed in his wake, her eyes scanning the room quickly. The room was decorated with tapestries depicting warriors marching off to battle, and a giant coat of arms hung above a crackling fire pit in the center of the room.

The colors of the house were red and bronze, and the colors showered the room in a very militaristic style. Black had been thrown in for a stylish flare, and about the room were a number of wood-framed chairs and couches. The room was circular, and leading from it three steps up were four halls.

The House she had been placed in was called Wrathoth, named after William Wrathoth. He had been one of the first Headmasters close friends. The others had been Bastion Boonhorn, Michelle Mumblewarts, Sicilian Seantinn, and Ginelda Grifithmine. They had come from all over the world, hence their odd names.

"You room is this way," Krum said calmly. He led her down one of the hallways and to a room with the number 23 on the door.

She opened the door carefully and looked inside. Her trunk had been placed at the foot of her camp bed.

"Dinner is in an hour," Krum said stiffly. "The dining hall is down the stairs where you came in." He turned and walked away after the now boy didn't reply.

Ekatrine walked into the room and looked around. It was quite empty—a bed, a wardrobe, and a desk and chair. The room itself was small, and silently Ekatrine thanked the builders of the institute for their generosity of separate rooms.

Then again, Durmstrang was a much smaller school than Hogwarts. It took in only the most advanced and promising wizards in its region. The rest, if they were male, were sent either to Hogwarts or to another school by the name of Raffletoff.

Ekatrine hadn't done much research on either of the schools. She trusted Rowling's books for anything she might need to know about Hogwarts, and decided that Raffletoff was someplace she'd probably never go.

Walking to her wardrobe she opened it. Inside, as Karkaroff had said, were a number of neatly hung uniforms in the blood red, black, and gold that each student was required to wear. On the chest was the coat of arms of the House she was in.

Ekatrine looked down at her hand, noticing that it was becoming more feminine by the second. The spell was wearing off. Her brown hair leaked from her scalp, curling about her ears and to her shoulder. Because her hair was short, it curled neatly about her ears from her tucking it behind them so often. When it had been longer, it had been board-straight.

She walked over to her trunk and rummaged through it until she found her wand. It was made from black cherry tree wood and the remains of a Basilisk heart. She quickly changed into the male uniform, examining herself in the mirror. She had to admit, she liked the colors, though they did drown out her pale complexion. In a way, she looked almost as a ghost might if they were to dress in solid clothes.

"Enjoying yourself?"

She jumped and whirled around, her wand pointed at a semi-transparent figure. "Who are you?"

"The name is Serge," he said with a half bow. "And you?"

"Krystof," she said, holding her head high.

"You don't look like a Krystof to me," he said softly, his voice just as accented as hers. "And you accent is Russia…"

She scowled. "Karkaroff knows I'm here, but my identity can't be revealed, so keep your mouth shut."

Serge laughed gently. "I will not speak of your secret, but I find it very interesting that a woman should have been admitted to a boy's school."

"Aramendo," she said, and her form shifted. Her hair shrunk back into her scalp, her frame became bulkier and more muscular, and she grew a few inches. "Better?"

The ghost seemed quite amused by this new spell. "I thought you didn't know magic?"

"I don't," she replied in her new masculine voice. "This one was given to me by the Ministry."

"Yes," he replied, eyeing her wand. "What is it?"

"Black cherry and Basilisk."

"Unique," he murmured. "I must go, dinner is soon, you may wish to discover your classrooms before tomorrow." With that said, he disappeared, leaving Ekatrine to wonder why he had been so abrupt in taking his leave.

She snorted to herself and left the room. Wand in pocket, hand on wand, she headed towards the Common Room, but paused when she spotted an enormous group of boys sitting around the fire pit. She spotted Krum amongst them. He was seated such that when he looked up, he could see right down the hall she was in.

He lifted his head, laughing as he spoke with one of his comrades. His eyes focused on her, and Ekatrine felt her heart skip a beat. She frowned mentally at the feeling, not enjoying it at all. It made her feel slightly ill.

Remembering that she was a boy and would fit right in, she strode down the hall and into the Common Room. She took an empty seat near the Seeker and looked around at the many faces.

"This is Krystof," Krum said, not at all allowing her a quiet entrance.

"Where're you from?" demanded a burly looking boy to Ekatrine's left.

She said the first school that came to mind, wishing she had done more research on it, "Raffletoff."

v"Raffletoff?" he snorted. "You play Quidditch?"

"No."

"Odd," he said slyly, "You look like a good Beater. Hey, Krum, you think he'd make a good Beater? Ivanov's gone, you know, and we're Beaterless."

The room was quiet, all ears and eyes trained on the tree boys.

"Might be," Krum replied half-heartedly. "We'll see."

The burly boy nodded once and turned back to "Krystof". "Name's Alex. Alexander, for long, but call me that and I'll squish you, new-boy. Beater number one."

Ekatrine saw his hand and caught it. He closed his giant hand about hers, gripping it as tightly as he could to see how the new kid reacted.

She hardly flinched, and gripped it back with equal force. She may have lived in her home most of her life, but that didn't mean she never got any exercise.

"Good grip," he muttered, pulling his hand away.

The others laughed.

"Anton," said a taller boy on Alex's other side. "Good to meet you." Anton shook Ekatrine's hand. Like the others, his hair was kept almost too short to know its color, but it had more of a reddish sheen to it.

"Anton's the Keeper," Krum said.

She nodded curtly. "Good to meet you."

"The other's are in the library," said Alex with a chuckle. "Unlike Raffletoff we don't have as many members in our House, so our team takes up most of it."

Ekatrine counted mentally. _One Seeker, one Keeper, two Beaters, and three Chasers._ There were eight boys in the Common Room, which meant that out of the three she knew to be on the team, there were at least four in the library. _He said the other Beater was gone, so that means three._ There were twelve boys, including her, in the House.

"Not many of us are there?" laughed Alex loudly. "Eleven, I think."

"_Twelve_," snorted Krum looking annoyed.

Alex counted on his fingers. "No, eleven. Your brain's mush, Krum."

"Plus Krystof," replied Krum coolly. "That makes _twelve_."

"Yeah, potato-brains," scoffed another of the boys. Alex leaned over and punched him on the shoulder.

"Potato-brains," he snorted in reply.

Ekatrine couldn't help but let a small smile pull at the corners of her mouth. She silently wished that she had met these boys earlier. They were a bit rougher than anyone she had met before, but she liked that. She wasn't exactly a girly girl and liked the idiocy of the guys around her.

Krum smirked when he saw Krystof's lips pull into a half-smile. At least the new boy was feeling more at home than before.

A clock above chimed and the boys all stood and strode from the room. Ekatrine came up in the rear, Krum in the front of the group.

"Hope the others heard that," Alex grumbled, rubbing his ears from the ringing of the giant clock that Ekatrine guessed to be above them.

"I'm sure they did," chortled Anton.

After Ekatrine left the door, it closed behind her, and she turned back, her eyes widening as she saw a set of eyes open and then snap shut.

"Everything all right?" Krum asked.

"Fine," she replied, and followed him down the hallway and to the dining hall.

The two of them followed the group before them and within moments entered the dining hall.

It was, like the rest of the castle, made of wood. Along it were five tables, each one made from sturdy oak, and along them were benches where the kids sat.

Ekatrine let her eyes wander to the teachers' table. Much like she had expected, it was full of male teachers. She felt a swell of pride as she realized just how unique her situation really was. It seemed she really was the first girl to enter the school in at least a hundred years, if not more.

Her eyes met Karkaroff's and she had a fleeting desire to throw something at him. Even if he was the Headmaster, she still didn't trust him. Years of growing up and hearing his name whispered as though a curse made her ill at seeing him so closely.

He and the teachers all sat at once with a loud thump, and then the boys around her all sat at the same time. She collapsed into her seat beside them. Krum had grabbed her sleeve so that she wouldn't embarrass herself.

It was only when Karkaroff clapped his hands and the food appeared that anyone spoke.

Ekatrine leaned over and said softly, "Thanks."

Krum nodded and grabbed a slice of rye bread. He buttered it up and stuck it into his stew.

Ekatrine leaned back and began to eat as well. She had remember in Rowling's books that Hogwart's had served wonderful dishes, so she was mildly disappointed with the plain stew and darker bread.

She took a drink from her pewter-colored goblet and blinked a few times. The drink was very different from anything she had ever had before—whether as a Muggle or wizard, she had never thought she would taste anything so explosive.

Alex laughed in his booming voice and said, "I see little Krys isn't used to Professor Latov's spice wine!"

"They serve you wine?" she gasped through her watering eyes and choked voice.

"That's not all," Alex said with a wink. "There's vodka in the Common Rooms. Great, huh?"

She shrugged. Vodka she was used to. This spicy wine was something else.

"They think they can win us over with the treat of wine," said Anton with a chuckle. "Their food is crap, so they give us alcohol to make us forget the taste." He tapped his temple, as though it was a brilliant idea.

"Whatever."

"I think he likes it!" laughed Anton.

"Who?"

A group of boys Ekatrine had never before seen were sitting around them. She had failed to notice them upon her entry to the dining hall.

"Oh, yeah," Alex said before Krum could open his mouth, "This is Krystof. He's going to be our new Beater."

"You're joking," one said in a drawl, his icy eyes focused lazily on the girl-turned-boy before him. "Well, he seems all right…"

"This is Dusan. He thinks he knows everything, but obviously he's as much of a potato-brain as Anton here."

Anton kicked him under the table. "Potato-brain that."

"Let's keep it in the Common Room, sweetie-pie," chortled Alex, who quickly received another kick from Anton.

Another two boys looked at 'Krystof'. "I'm Oleg," said one quickly before Alex could embarrass him. "Good to meet you, comrade."

"Yakov," said the final boy quickly. "New Beater, huh? Well, if Krum thinks you're ready…where're you from?"

Before Ekatrine could answer, Krum said quickly, "He's not our new Beater. Not yet, anyways. We still have to hold tryouts."

"Awe, but Mamo, I like this one best," begged Alex with a wink. "Can we keep 'em? Please?"

"We'll see," Krum said shortly, and returned to his stew.

Yakov let a huge grin spread across his face. "We're the Chasers, as I'm sure you've guessed. Now, what school?"

"Oh, um—Raffletoff."

"Really? You know Susan Biggins? She came over from England a few years back. She should be a fourth year," replied the boy curiously.

"No, never met her," replied Ekatrine taking another bite of her stew quickly. She would have to remember to get a book on her so-called old school.

Krum looked to the clock and then leaned over and said into Ekatrine's ear, "Eat quickly. We have a lot of work to do if you're going to get caught up."

Ekatrine wondered briefly if Krum knew she wasn't a guy. If he did, he let no sign of his knowledge slip out. She began to wonder again as she ate her stew why he hadn't said anything about her not actually being a transfer student. Perhaps he felt that if she wanted to lie, she could.

_Huh, like I know what I'm supposed to say around people_, she thought sarcastically.

Within the hour everyone had finished eating and after the Headmaster stood, they did as well, Krum again pulling on Ekatrine's shirt to make her stand at the same time. Dinner was over, and everyone returned to his or her respective Common Rooms.

"This way," Krum said, tugging her towards the main entrance into the school.

"Krum, where're you two going?" Alex shouted over the heads of his peers.

"Tour," Krum replied bluntly.

Alex gave a thumbs-up, and disappeared into the crowd along with the other Wrathoth players and students.

The two boys went out into the bitter cold. The light was dim, but Ekatrine was used to it. She had grown up much further North than where Durmstrang was located. She had spent the majority of her life in Archangel, a small city on the Baltic Sea.

"You have your wand?"

She pulled it from her pocket.

"Good. We're going to start in the stables. They're lit. Follow me," he led her across the grounds. It wasn't snowing this far South yet, as the year had only begun a few weeks ago. However, there was still a blanket of gray clouds that covered the setting sun and rising moon.

They entered the stables and Ekatrine looked around, thinking that she might see a dragon or some other mythical creature.

Krum closed the doors behind her and asked, "Raffletoff, huh?"

She shrugged; she rubbed her hands through her short, bristly hair to make sure that it was still as it was. She chose her answer very carefully, "I did some research on the school."

"So you thought you'd lie?"

"What did you want me to say?" she asked calmly. "This is all very new to me."

Krum wasn't impressed. He snapped, "Wizards are no different than Muggles. Do you lie to Muggles? Do you lie to your parents?"

Ekatrine clenched her jaw and didn't reply.

"You've interacted with Muggles before, haven't you?" snapped Krum. "Well, answer me!"

"If you must know," she replied as calmly as she possibly could, "I've interacted with Muggles three times in my life."

Krum snorted, "You think I'd believe that after the show you put on tonight? Karkaroff should call your parents and have you sent home. You won't make it here if you keep lying."

Again, the girl-turned-boy forced herself not to scream at him. She had to keep herself under control if she wanted to stay hidden from Lord Voldemort. "My parents are dead."

The Seeker opened his mouth and then closed it, thinking better of what he had been about to say. Finally, he asked, "You're not lying, are you?"

She shook her head.

"So you really don't know how to interact with people," he said softly.

Ekatrine lifted her eyes to him and replied softly, "They never really let me out of the house."

Krum shifted his weight uneasily. "I'm…sorry…"

She shrugged and rubbed at her flaming eyes, refusing to let herself cry in front of the boy. "You didn't know."

"Will you tell the others?"

She shrugged again so she wouldn't have to reply.

Curiosity got the better of him and Krum asked gently, "How long ago?"

"Four days."

"Wow," he said. "I'm sorry…really. Look, if you want the night off…"

"No," she replied curtly. "I need to get caught up as fast as I can. I know it's six years, but all I need is the basics, right?"

He nodded.

"Good," she said. "Let's start, then."

Krum began with the simple _lumos_ and _alohamora_, and as evening turned to night, they progressed into a few other simple spells. Ekatrine's hands and wrists were stiff with the movements and her accent was off, so sometimes she would turn a stall green or the hay around them caught fire, but otherwise the night went well.

The next morning Ekatrine jumped when her alarm clock went off. She rolled over and looked at it, groaning softly. It was five forty-five, far too early to be awake.

Rolling out of bed, she quickly said, "Aramendo."

Once her form had changed she pulled her uniform on and stuffed her wand into its pocket.

She found the Houses bathroom and brushed her teeth. Realizing that she had no hair to brush anymore, she left, and then returned a moment later to relieve her full bladder.

There was no need for schoolbags—all of the classes had class-issued books, and every House had its own stock of the regular schoolbooks. Ekatrine met Viktor and the others in the Common Room.

"Just on time," he said with a half-smile. "Let's go."

"Hey, Krys," Alex said, sideling up on the new kids other side. "What was this note about? I found it on the floor of my room."

Ekatrine took in a deep breath and let it out. "Well…I, erm…lied about having gone to Raffletoff."

"I knew it! Headmaster Karkaroff doesn't allow just _anyone_ into Durmstrang!" he crowed.

"Well, actually…I'm a Misinformed Muggle," she blurted. The other boys all stopped and looked at her blankly.

"A what?" asked Oleg curiously.

"A Misinformed Muggle," said Dusan slowly, "is a wizard or witch that grew up and was never invited to a magical school. It's pretty rare…"

She nodded, her stomach clenching. "I'm…sorry about lying. I wasn't sure how…well…"

"S'ok," said Alex quickly; rather a little too quickly. "We understand."

Oleg quirked an eyebrow and looked to Yakov who shrugged. "Sounds reasonable to me…"

Ekatrine let out a soft breath of air. The boys continued on without her, some of them whispering. She had expected as much. She started after them, falling a bit behind, lost in her own thoughts and emotions.

"I'm impressed," Krum said.

She jumped, having forgotten he was still with her. "It was nothing."

He smirked. "Like lying was nothing, huh?"

Ekatrine frowned and looked at him sidelong. "You're never going to let me forget, are you?"

"Friends make sure friends don't make the same mistake twice," he replied. They reached the dining hall and sat down with the others after the teachers had all collapsed into their chairs.

Ekatrine didn't need Krum to grab her and sat in perfect sequence with the others. She reached for her baked potatoes and eggs.

"Eggs!" gasped Alex from down the table. "Must be a special occasion!"

"Shut up and eat them, potato-brain," said Anton, shoving a fork-full into his own mouth. "Mmm…haven't had eggs since summer."

The other boys all ate the eggs just as gleefully, or at least for what passed as gleeful in the Durmstrang Institute.

When breakfast had ended, everyone stood the same way they had the night before. They headed out of the dining hall and into the rest of the school.

Ekatrine followed Krum, as her schedule was his. She noticed as she walked with him that the entire seventh year of the Wrathoth House were walking with them to their first class.

"Most of us are seventh years," said Anton seeing the confused look on the new boy's face.

"A lot of the younger kids can't take it, so they drop out. All of the first years through fourth years have their classes together."

"People transfer in usually fifth or sixth year," Oleg continued. "They find their other school's too easy, or their family's moved and they have to go to a new school. Most of the ones that come here are used to all-boy private schools."

Ekatrine nodded, her brain soaking up the information like a dry crop.

"So you never could have even met Susan Biggins, huh?" sighed Yakov. "Oh well. She was a hot girl, that one."

"Nothing like the girl Krum went with last year," sniggered Oleg. "You still with her?"

Alex laughed and said sarcastically, "I think she was a bit of a—"

"You say 'prat' and I'm going to hit you," interrupted Dusan coldly.

"Oh, you know you love that word," Alex grinned. "Just as much as potato-brain, and all the other things we call you."

"He went to England last summer to see his mummy," said Yakov. "Wittle Awex was wonwy." He made a face at the larger boy and ran down the hallway to escape the Beaters wrath.

Ekatrine hadn't really paid any attention to the last part of the conversation. She still heard Oleg's voice in her head, _Nothing like the girl Krum went with last year…You still with her?_

She felt something new come over her. An annoying tinge on the inside of her mind demanding to know who this girl was and whether or not Krum was still _with_ her.

"So," Oleg said with a crooked grin, "You talk to Hermoine lately, Krum?"

Krum shrugged. "We write."

"Oh please," Anton said, "you two spent half of the Yule Ball—"

Viktor stepped on Anton's toes, pretending to have been shoved by a group of fifth years that had carefully avoided the larger group of boys.

"OUCH!"

"Sorry," Krum muttered. "Stupid fifth years."

Ekatrine turned to look behind her at the younger boys who clustered around the corner together. Her eyes fell onto Dusan, and his icy ones looked right into her. She shuddered, a feeling creeping over her that Dusan knew more than he was letting on.

She wondered why he was on the Quidditch team. He seemed to despise all of the other players, and certainly acted as though they weren't worth his time.

It was at that moment that Alex and Yakov raced by them and into their first class. Yakov had managed to dodge the older boy a few times, and laughed as Alex tried to throw a wad of paper at him.

The paper wad missed and instead hit the teacher.

Alex stopped and gawked as the teacher whirled around. He said very coldly, "Ah, yes…_Alexander_, get into your seat. Extra detention after classes."

He groaned. Ekatrine guessed that it was from the teacher calling him by his full name instead of the extra detention. Alex seemed rather used to recieving detentions.

The teacher turned his sharp eyes onto the rest of the seventh years. "Seats, now." He didn't bother to acknowledge Ekatrine, so she followed Krum and sat beside him.

"Parchment out, quills out, two-foot long essay on the second war of 210. Due at the end of class," the teacher wrote the assignment on the board before them briefly and then sat down at his desk and watched the class intensely.

Ekatrine found the parchment in her desk, right beside a quill and ink well. On the other side of the desk was a giant book that said blankly in Bulgarian, _Magic Wars and Other History_.

She grabbed the book and flipped it open, hoping that it was allowed. After measuring her parchment, she began the essay. Everyone else was scratching away as she silently flipped through the pages of the old and dusty book. She kept chewing on her lower lip as she searched for information.

Krum glanced over at Krystof and smirked to himself. The boy was taking the first class better than he had anticipated.

His back automatically tensed up at the professor approached them. He had taken to walking up and down the rows of desks to check the work so far. He never said anything, but whenever he paused to read someone's paper, they would begin to sweat and their hand began to shake as they wrote.

He reached Ekatrine and read her essay over her shoulder. He didn't move for a long moment, and Krum began to wonder if he was going to snap at Krystof for having his book out.

"Quills down," said the professor quickly. Everyone's quill snapped down at once, Ekatrine sitting up at straight as she could. The professor reached over her shoulder and pulled her essay from the desk.

_Here is comes_, thought Krum.

The professor tapped his black-shoed foot against the floor as he read the essay. Finally he said, "The second war of 210, as most of you have written on your parchment, did not start in, and I quote, "The first years of the second century A.D." As Mr. Uriov has written here, it started in the _tenth year of the second century B.C._ Can you comprehend that? _B.C._ _Before_ Christ, not _Anno Dmonie_!" He set Krystof's parchment back down and marched to the front of the room, his eyes coldly scanning the room. "For the lack of wits and obvious idiocy, the rest of you can make the essay three feet, and I want it done before the class is over." When no one moved, he snapped, "Well, get writing!"

All of the quills in the room jumped to life and the boys began scratching away at their paper.

Krum smirked at Krys' luck. _So, Vasska can have favorites. What luck._

The class ended nearly an hour later. Ekatrine got to her feet and followed Krum to the front of the room, her essay in hand. She handed it to the professor who took it without comment.

She left the room behind Alex and Viktor. Anton, Yakov, and Dusan sidled over to them, and Alex said, "I can't believe it! Vasska gave me another detention on top of the one I already have!"

"_Professor_," Krum said calmly.

"Maybe you shouldn't have thrown paper at him," Yakov sniggered.

"This is all your fault," grumbled Alex glaring at the boy. "If you hadn't ducked I would've—"

"You would've had another detention anyways," Anton said calmly. "Vasska doesn't like you."

"_Professor_ Vasska," Krum repeated, though he hardly looked irritated.

"Yes, Mamo," Alex said with a wink at Ekatrine. "Whatever you say."

"What's next?" Ekatrine asked, hoping to break away from the discussion on the sallow professor.

Anton blurted, "Something that has to do with the Dark Arts."

"Potato-brain," growled Alex, "everything here has to do with the Dark Arts. Duh."

"Charms," Dusan replied from behind Ekatrine.

She turned and looked into his icy eyes, wondering how he managed to the look.

"Thanks."

He didn't reply.

When they had reached their Charms class the group of seventh years sat down in their chairs. Ekatrine found herself wondering silently why the seventh years didn't seem to have N.E.W.T. or O.W.L. classes. Once again she took her seat beside Krum.

The professor of the Charms class was of normal height, but had a rather cheerful smile plastered to his face. He had sallow, gray hair that cupped his face in twisted strands.

"Welcome back, boys! I assume you did your homework?"

There was a loud crack as the teacher waved his thin, black wand. A pile of rolled up parchment appeared on his desk. He waved his wand again and a number opened above the parchment pile.

"Eight?" he turned and flicked his wand again, a new number appearing above the class.

"_Nine_. Who didn't do their homework?" His smile looked forced, his ugly yellow teeth clenched together.

Ekatrine raised her hand.

"You? And you would be?"

"Krystof Uriov," she replied calmly.

"New, eh? Yes, yes, I've heard your name," he examined the boy quickly and said, "Krum, a new Beater?"

"No, Professor, not yet."

"Mr. Uriov looks able," the professor mused. "I am Professor Borka, by the way. I take it Mr. Krum is bringing you up to speed?"

Krum ignored the comment about Krystof being someone that looked like a Beater. Out of the entire school, only a few of them knew that the new boy had never flown before.

Ekatrine nodded, "Yes, sir."

"Good, good," he turned and walked back to the front of the classroom and began the lesson.

Ekatrine scribbled down as many notes as she could, again finding all of the needed materials inside of the desk. She didn't understand most of what was coming out of Borka's mouth, but had expected as much.

The rest of the day went similarly, Ekatrine meeting Professor Pavel, who taught Transfiguration; Professor Vova, teacher of Potions; and Professor Kostya, who in turn taught Defense Against the Dark Arts.

That afternoon after their last lesson, Alex said abruptly, "See you later, comrades. I have double-detention." He sulked off.

"_Quadruple_ detention sounds more realistic," said Anton watching as the bulkier boy disappeared around a corner.

Ekatrine hardly smiled. She knew it was true. Alex had been asked to detention more times that day than she had ever thought possible.

Krum stated, "We have to go, too. Lessons…"

"It's still sunny out," mused Yakov. "You teach him how to fly today, yes?"

"You want to learn?" Krum asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Love to."

"Okay, go out to the stables," Krum decided. "I'll bring down my broom and show you how to—"

"No way!" gasped Yakov. "You won't even let us ride your broom!"

"He's not going to ride it, potato-brains," said Anton, looking sidelong at Krum. "Right?"

Dusan hissed, "Of course not. Krystof is a novice. By the way, Uriov, be sure to watch where you're going when Krum sends you up the third time. That could end up being a nasty fall."

Ekatrine merely gawked as the boy continued down the hallway. "What…?"

"He's crazy," said Anton under his breath, but he winked, showing he was kidding. At least, a little. "Totally nuts."

"Shut up, potato-brains," hissed Yakov. "He'll hear you."

Ekatrine raised an eyebrow in question. She turned to Krum, but he had already gone back to the Common Room.

Anton pulled Ekatrine next to he and Yakov by the edge of the hallway so that they weren't in traffic. "Look, don't say anything to him, but Dusan's…well…he creeps me out. Krum only let him on the team because he was the best."

"He doesn't have anyone else to hang around with," admitted Yakov. "He's nice enough, I guess. Just a little strange."

"Did you ever think that he might be a psychic?" Ekatrine asked, suddenly panicking. She hadn't thought of that before. If Dusan was a psychic that meant he probably knew her secret.

"Might be," admitted Anton. "He can foretell things, so my guess is that if he isn't, he's weirder than we originally thought."

Yakov laughed nervously. "We like him around, because sometimes he'll say things…like how he told you to watch out. He doesn't do it often—messes up time or whatnot."

"I have to go," she said suddenly, remembering she was supposed to meet Krum out in the stables. "I'll see you later."

The moment she left and turned the corner, she paused.

Yakov and Anton waited to see if Krystof had gone, and then they broke out laughing.

"You think he believed us?"

"Haha! Yeah!" laughed Yakov. "The look on his face was brilliant! I think we got 'em good this time—"

"Wonderful!" crowed Anton.

She listened as they walked down the hall, right past where she was hiding. Dusan appeared on her other side and asked, "You think they see the bar?"

Ekatrine jumped, but followed his hand, looking to a low-hanging wooden crossbar that had been placed in their path. It blended in wonderfully with the rest of the wood.

"Three, two, one…"

_THUNK, THUNK!_

"OUCH!"

"Holy crap, what was that?!"

Dusan chuckled to himself. "They think I don't know when they talk about me, but I do." He looked at Ekatrine intensely and finally said, "I'm not psychic…not in the way Muggles think people like me are. I can't read minds—but I can predict things through emotions."

Ekatrine froze. "Things like what?"

"Like how potato-brains like them are too stupid to see a trap," Dusan said, still staring at the girl-turned-boy, as if he might see the future in the person before him. "And how Krum isn't going to be happy if you're not there when he gets to the stables."

"Oh!" Ekatrine jumped. "Thanks, Dusan." She hurried down the hall, pausing to look back. The boy had disappeared once again. Anton and Yakov were still muttering about the wooden bar, examining it and yelling at each other as to why neither of them had seen it.

She smiled to herself. Dusan didn't seem so bad after all.


	2. PART TWO: VLADIMIR VOLKOVA

**PART TWO:**

**VLADIMIR VOLKOVA**

Ekatrine reached the stables within a few moments. She looked around, her breath coming and going in short, heavy gasps. It billowed out before her on the frozen air in puffs of steam. Looking about, she wondered where Krum was.

She checked her watch to see how much time she had left before her spell wore off. She had cast it at about six that morning, and had gone to the restroom to cast it again at lunch three hours ago. She still had plenty of time before it wore off, and so she relaxed.

"Ready?"

Ekatrine jumped and whirled around to face Krum. "Yeah, sure."

He held up an old and worn broomstick. "Here, you can use this one."

"School broom?" she asked automatically, her eyes falling to a box that was levitating behind the boy. It landed on the ground where it began to move around wildly.

"No," Krum said. He smirked and replied, "My old one. If you're as good as everyone thinks you are, you'll need a good broomstick to use at tryouts."

Ekatrine couldn't help but laugh.

Krum blinked. He had never heard Krystof laugh before, even if he had been at the school only two days. For some reason, he had merely figured at Krystof, like Dusan, couldn't laugh. They could smile; maybe give a forced chuckle, but not a full-out laugh. "What?"

"You think I'm going to try out? I'd be so terrible, it wouldn't even be funny!" Ekatrine was still laughing, though she had let the laugher calm down a bit. Once she had regained control of her emotions she looked at Krum. He was still looking shocked. "Sorry, I highly doubt it's going to happen."

"It happened to me," replied Krum slowly. "And it happened to Harry Potter. It could happen to you."

"If you say so."

Krum gripped his broom. "First, put your broom on the ground. Then say up."

Ekatrine remembered this part of the test from the first Harry Potter book J.K. Rowling had written. She did just as Krum had said, setting the broom on the ground.

She didn't expect anything to happen, but before she could even open her mouth, the broomstick snapped into her hand.

"You didn't say anything."

"I…guess I thought it loud enough," she said, trying to smile. Her guts wrenched inside of her. She felt ill.

"Mount your broom," Krum instructed, mounting his own. "Grip like this…good."

She gripped the broom handle tightly, suddenly realizing that she disliked heights very much. She swallowed tightly, trying to force her fears down.

"Don't worry," Krum said. "I'll go up with you. On the count of three, kick off. One…two…three!"

Ekatrine shoved her feet into the ground and she burst into the air, Krum right beside her.

"Level out your broom," he said, though she couldn't see him through her eyelids. "Yeah, good. Now open your eyes and sit up."

She had stopped moving and when she slowly opened her eyes, she saw that she was nearly forty feet above the ground. She gasped.

Krum laughed and said, "At least you didn't fall off. To turn, move your broom handle in the direction you want to go. Follow me—we'll do some warm-up rounds." He pulled out in front of her and began to go around the stables, diving low to the ground. When Krystof didn't follow him right away, Krum yelled back, "What? Are you as potato-brained as the others? Let's go!"

Ekatrine scowled and dove after him, the sudden rush of adrenaline burst through her system, making her want to go faster. After she rounded the first corner behind Krum, she couldn't help but laugh to herself. She loved it!

Krum burst back up into the sky quickly, and Ekatrine followed, moving almost as quickly as he did. They did loop-de-loops and circles, Krum leading and Ekatrine following.

Finally, Krum landed, Ekatrine skidding to a stop right beside him and letting her legs touch solid ground once again. She was grinning.

"You liked it?"

"Yes!"

"Want to go again?"

She nodded vigorously.

"Okay, but I want to test something," Krum said. He dismounted and walked over to the box he had brought with him. Ekatrine followed him, curious to see what was in the box.

When the lid flipped back, she saw four balls—a big red one, two black ones, and a small gold one. The black ones were chained down and were what was causing the box to rock around.

"Here," Krum said, thrusting a flat Cricket-like bat into her hands. She noticed that he was holding one as well. He unchained one of the Bludgers, and it flew high into the air.

"You're kidding," she gasped.

"You're a good flyer," Krum replied, watching as the Bludger became a speck in the gray sky. "Now I want to see if you're a good Beater. Let's go, it'll be back soon."

Ekatrine followed Krum back over to the brooms and she mounted. The two of them kicked off, and just as expected, the Bludger exploded towards them. Krum lifted his bat and smacked it. The Bludger changed course and rocketed towards Ekatrine.

She lifted her club, still holding tightly to the broom, hoping she wouldn't fall when the ball hit her. She braced herself, her eyes closed tightly. She swung blindly, hoping she'd hit it and it would go away.

Instead, her broom suddenly dropped and the Bludger whizzed by her head, missing her by less than an inch.

"Open your eyes, Krys!" Krum shouted. "You can't hit it blind!"

Ekatrine forced her eyes to open. She turned and watched as the Bludger turned in the air and came right back at her. She took in a deep breath, deciding she would rather go down with a fight than by just having the Bludger hit her without her trying to hit it back.

It came at her and she steadied her broom, the bat in her hands.

_Three…two…ONE!_

_CRACK!_

She hit it and the Bludger exploded across the field and into the ground nearly eighty meters away.

Krum grinned and glided over to her. "Not bad, Uriov. Not bad at all."

Ekatrine wiped the sweat from her forehead. She was shaking.

"Come on," Krum said. "Let's see how far you hit—oh, here it comes!"

Ekatrine whirled around and saw the black ball flying at them from the ground. She glided away, Krum behind her. "Ready?!" he called over the rush of air around them.

"Yeah!"

She spun around and stopped, the Bludger only meters from Krum. He snapped his bat and the Bludger came right at her. Ekatrine felt a swell of adrenaline as the ball came towards her. She smacked it with the bat, sending it right back to Krum. The two of them passed the ball back and forth for nearly an hour before they landed to take a break. Krum had the ball under his arm. It was fighting as hard as it could to escape him, thumping against his side and tugging at his arm, but it was still stuck.

He landed easily and shoved it back into the box, chaining it back up. He stood and looked at Krystof. "I'm impressed. You did pretty well."

She smiled; sweat rolling down her face and into the nape of her uniform. "Thanks."

"Maybe with some more practice you could try out for Beater Saturday."

"_Saturday_?" she asked. "But that's the day after tomorrow!"

He shrugged. "I think you'll be ready. You're pretty good."

She smirked. "You're not supposed to say that."

"I know," he laughed and collapsed onto the dry grass. He looked into the sky, the cool air relaxing him.

Ekatrine fell to the ground beside him. She stayed sitting, though, and merely looked at the giant sea of grass and trees before her.

After a few moments, Krum asked, "Krys, do you have a girlfriend?"

Ekatrine pondered the question briefly and replied, "No. I don't really know anyone aside from you guys…" She paused before venturing, "Do you?"

Krum propped himself onto his elbows and looked over to the forest as well. "I thought so, but now I'm not so sure. We still write, but somehow I don't think she likes me like I thought she did."

"Sorry to hear that," Ekatrine said. She shoved aside the feeling of glee that erupted within her, annoyed at the burst of emotion.

"It's okay," Krum replied. "I guess I shouldn't have expected anything from her, you know? She's only fifteen."

Ekatrine nodded. "Who is she?"

"Hermoine Granger. She goes to Hogwarts," he replied.

Ekatrine nodded again. She hadn't read any of the Harry Potter series beyond the third book. Her parents had found the books in her possession and had removed them rapidly; so rapidly that she couldn't finish the one she had been on.

"She's Harry Potter's friend," she mused. "Right?"

He nodded, now chewing on a straw of grass. "Yeah." Krum pulled a worn photograph and letter from the pocket of his uniform and handed them to Krystof. "That's her."

"She's…pretty," Ekatrine said softly.

Krum laughed. "Yeah. She called me duck-feet when we first met."

Ekatrine handed him the photo and letter. Krum was, indeed, slightly duck-footed and had an odd stride when on land, but she had grown accustomed to it and couldn't picture him without it. "She nice?"

"Yeah." He accepted the papers and replaced them carefully. "I just wish she was older…and that she lived up here."

There was a long time where neither of them spoke. Ekatrine watched as the wind glided across the field of tall grass before them, her mind wandering with it.

"I think she just wants to be Pen-Pals," Krum said, breaking the silence.

"Why do you say that?"

"It's just a feeling," Krum replied softly. "She doesn't write me as often, and she refused my invitation to Bulgaria last summer."

Ekatrine shrugged and replied, "Maybe she had other plans."

"Probably," Krum said, though he didn't look any better off. He paused before asking, "I guess you wouldn't know many girls, huh?"

Ekatrine felt a bit awkward talking about girls in the way Krum saw them. "Not really."

"You should come with us down to Varna," he said, now twisting a strand of grass between his fingers. "There're some girls there. You might like them."

"It's not a wizard city, is it?"

"No, Muggle."

She nodded. Varna was a few miles South of the school. Unlike Hogwarts, there was no magical town nearby. Varna was where the students went on break or for the weekend if they wanted to get out of the castle.

"We should get back on the brooms," Krum said standing suddenly. "There isn't much light left, and I want to finish up some spells before we go in."

Ekatrine stood as well, stretching her arms and back. "Alright."

They mounted the brooms again and Krum tossed Ekatrine the Beater's Bat. She caught it and watched as Krum waved his wand and commanded, "Alohamora."

The Bludger exploded into the sky, a streak of black. The two wizards dodged it for a while, and Krum finally shot it towards Krystof. "Heads up!"

Ekatrine whirled around and beat the ball back towards Krum, wondering what it was Dusan had warned her about. She was in the middle of the sky, her only enemy a Bludger. She felt safe in the sky than she did on the ground.

"Hey!"

Ekatrine and Krum both turned to see who had shouted at them. Alex was running towards them, waving. His double-some-odd-detentions had ended.

"Krystof, look out!"

She turned and saw the Bludger coming right at her. She felt the broomstick beneath her jolt and collapse about three feet down, the Bludger whizzing by overhead. Ekatrine let out a breath of air, glad that she hadn't been hit.

Krum whipped out his wand and shouted, "_STUPIFY_!"

The ball froze and collapsed to the ground with a dull thud.

Ekatrine landed on the ground, Krum right behind her. He snapped, "What do you need, Alex?"

"Woah, calm down," Alex said. He was bigger than Krum, but recoiled nonetheless.

"Yeah, Krum," Ekatrine said softly. She turned to Alex. "How was detention?"

"_Dreadful_," Alex said with a lopsided grin. He had edged away from Viktor, who still looked annoyed. "I think Vasska won't have me for detention for a while."

"_Professor_," snapped Krum. "We're supposed to call him _Professor_ Vasska."

"Borka doesn't care," replied Alex.

"Borka's insane," retorted Krum.

Ekatrine asked quickly, "What was dreadful about it? …And why are you smiling?"

"_Professor_ Vasska had me file his books and historical documents without magic," Alex was snickering. "So I alphabetized them backwards first, and then after he told me to do it again I did every other letter wrong while singing Muggle songs as loud as I could. He got so mad he kicked me out of his office!"

Even Krum's lips tightened into a smile at this. He was cooled off. The flight practice had been pretty intense, the two boys concentrating as hard as they could on the Bludger and trying to subconsciously knock each other from their broomsticks.

Ekatrine let a grin spread on her own face. "That's…great?"

"Yeah! I don't think he'll have me in for detention for another week!"

"Well, at least not until tomorrow," Krum said. "Krystof and I were getting ready to work on some spells. Want to join us?"

Alex considered the thought and then sighed, thinking better of it. "Nah, I have homework…come to think of it, so do you two."

"We have time," Krum replied.

"Alright, well, it's already six, so you might want to get a move on," the bulky Beater turned and started back towards the castle.

Ekatrine's face fell and she quickly checked her watch. It was six! She reached up and touched her hair—it was starting to grow!

"I…uh…have to go…place," she said quickly. "Be right back!"

Krum scratched his head as he watched Krystof run to the back of the stables. He laughed, deciding the boy had needed to relieve himself. He walked over to the fallen Bludger and placed it back into its spot, chaining it back up before unfreezing it.

The sun was already falling, the gray clouds becoming darker by the moment. By the time Krum had taken the box, bats, and brooms into the stable, it was dark.

Krystof entered the stables a few moments later. He was sweating up a storm. "Sorry. Had to…uh…"

"It's okay," Krum laughed. "When you gotta go, you gotta go."

Ekatrine nodded, glad for the excuse. "Yeah, sure thing."

Krum lifted his wand from his pocket and began explaining the night's lessons. When Ekatrine attempted the first charm of the night, she misfired and one of the stalls exploded into flame.

Krum waved his wand and doused the fire. "Here, hold it like this…" He adjusted her wrist and helped her aim. Of course, the act was innocent, but Ekatrine's heart fluttered nonetheless.

"Thanks," she murmured.

"Try again…"

She spoke the word, and the charm aimed correctly this time, the lantern on the stall in front of her lighting up. "It worked!"

"You just have to aim," he said. "Try again."

She did. And did. And did some more. By the time the lesson had ended, Ekatrine's arm was very stiff and she was very tired.

As the two of them were leaving the stable, a huge wind picked up, blowing out the lanterns. Ekatrine knocked into Krum and dropped her wand. She knelt and found it, Krum beside her in the dark.

"Windy," he muttered. "Let's go."

She and Krum went back into the school after replacing the Quidditch box and Beater Bats. He took the brooms inside and the two of them returned to their Common Room.

An empty room greeted them.

"I'll put the brooms away," he said. "Get the books and parchment and we can do our homework."

Ekatrine nodded, watching as the Bulgarian Seeker walked out of the room and down a hall. Once he was out of sight, she let out a slight sigh and went to find the books and materials they needed.

They weren't hard to find—dozens of spell books, ingredients, stacks of parchment, bottles of ink, and vases of quills lined one of the walls. The materials were behind one of the tapestries.

She set the stuff out on one of the empty tables around the edges of the room and sat down, waiting for Viktor to return.

Serge floated into the chair beside her. "Well, how was it?"

She turned to him and smirked. "How was what?"

"Your first day. Anyone find out _you-know-what_?" he smiled, as though he had said something very funny. "Saw the Krum boy and you outside. You are…quite the pair."

Ekatrine rolled her eyes. "I'm a guy."

"Well, you certainly look like one, but you are very much a girl."

"What do you know," she snapped.

"I know that you have a thing for Viktor Krum," the ghost replied, rising into the air and floating around the transfigured girl. "It won't take him long to figure out your secret, you know."

"It will take longer if you keep your mouth shut," she snorted.

The ghost looked right into her eyes. "Don't you ever think that he might wonder where you go every six hours? He'll figure it out when he starts to have feelings for you."

"What?" Ekatrine sat up quickly. "What do you mean? Does he—"

"You have the books, Krystof?"

Serge merely smirked and disappeared into the wall.

Ekatrine scowled.

"Krys? Ah, you do," Krum walked over to the table and sat beside her. "We have to keep our voices down. The other's are sleeping…"

"You guys get to bed early," she mused.

"It's nearly midnight," Krum replied with a laugh. "We were out there for quite a while."

Immediately Ekatrine ran her hand through her hair. "I'll be right back."

"Where're you going?"

"Bathroom," she replied quickly. She could feel the spell wearing off—her hair coming out of her scalp and curling around her ears. She felt the uniform on her shoulders shrink and become heavier. She quickly entered the bathroom, but before she could say anything, the door burst open behind her.

She jumped into one of the stalls, wand in hand.

"You sure you're okay, Krys?" came Krum's voice.

Ekatrine forced her voice to be gruff, "Fine, fine. Just—ah—I'll be out in a minute."

"You sound like crap."

"Feel like it…must be the stew," she rasped, leaning against the door into the stall.

"All right…" he said, sounding unsure. He left the room, and Ekatrine relaxed against the stall door. She wiped her hair away from her face. _That was way too close…_

Lifting her wand, Ekatrine murmured, "_Aramendo_."

Nothing happened.

She pulled the sleeve of her robes back and gasped. She was holding Viktor's wand! When she had dropped her wand, he must have dropped his, too!

"Shit!" she gasped. She tried to remember how they had gotten into the Common Room. Krum had said the spell like always and the door had swung open. _It must have been too tired to realize the spell didn't fire off!_ She thought. _That's why Krum didn't realize he had my wand!_

She collapsed onto the floor of the stall, leaning her head into her arms. _What am I going to do?_

After a few more minutes, the door into the bathroom opened and Krum asked, "You alright?"

She jumped to her feet, slipping around in the shoes that were too big for her by a size or two. Ekatrine said hastily, "You have my wand!"

"What?"

She coughed and said gruffly, "My wand…we got them mixed up."

Krum was approaching the stall. He asked, "Where's mine?"

She put it on the floor, hoping he hadn't seen her smaller hands. "Can I have mine back?"

Viktor knelt and picked up his wand. "You sound like shit, are you sure you don't need me to cure—"

"I'm fine! I can cure myself…just…my wand," she said, her voice on the verge of breaking.

"Here, let me see you. I want to make sure you're alright," he said, pressing himself against the door.

It began to open and Ekatrine quickly pushed all of her weight against him. "No, no! I'm fine, really! I just need my wand!"

Krum paused, but finally passed her wand through the crack in the door. "Here…now are you sure you don't need to go to the infirmary?"

"Yeah," she grunted, taking the wand gratefully. Under her breath she whispered, "Aramendo!"

She felt the familiar scratching of her hair being sucked away and her body exploding into that of a young man. Finally she opened the stall door and looked at Krum. "Sorry for keeping you…"

"You look like crap," Krum said.

Ekatrine looked at herself in the mirror across the room. Indeed, she did. Her face was pale and her eyes looked sunken and tired. "I just need to wash my face."

She walked over to the sinks on shaking feet and whipped one of the faucets on. She ran her hands under the cold water and brought it to her face.

Krum shrugged and replied, "Just make sure you flush." He left.

Ekatrine collapsed against the sink, her body still shaking. She would have to be a lot more careful from now on. She couldn't afford another accident.

Saturday came in a wisp of fog and a bright sun above the Quidditch stadium. Ekatrine had been very sure to cast the spell only a second or two before she left her room, and had her Muggle watch set for five and a half hours. She silently hoped that the tryouts wouldn't last nearly that long, but she still didn't want to chance that they would.

Unlike the weekdays, the weekends were more loosely controlled. Breakfast was served from six to nine, and anyone was welcome to sleep in.

She had, unfortunately, been required to be at the Quidditch field by seven o'clock. Arriving, she looked over at a group of Wrathoth boys. There weren't that many of them—four.

"The rest of the house turned up," Alex said, coming up behind Ekatrine. He laughed. "All five of you! How touching!"

"Krum wanted me to tryout," replied Ekatrine, emphasizing that she wouldn't have been there if he had not asked her first.

Alex caught her drift and replied, "Krum and us—we have an eye for good players. You'll do fine."

The other team members were there, too. Yakov, Anton, and Dusan were sitting on a bench, their eyes focused on the group of trembling people below. Three of the four players were fifth years, the fourth one a sixth year. He was much bigger than Ekatrine.

She walked over to them and stood in line with them.

Krum walked onto the field, a notepad in his hands. He looked the group up and down. "You are each going to go up one at a time. Alex," he motioned at the other boy, "will work with you if you need him. The goal is to see how well you can aim a Bludger when you beat it. A Bludger will be sent at you and you are to try and score a goal in one of the three hoops. The two people with the highest number of goals out of five will go on to the next round. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" all of the boys shouted.

"Androvich, Mikhail!"

One of the younger boys stepped forward. He looked mildly nervous, but had enough guts to walk without tripping all over himself as Ekatrine felt she would do when it was her turn.

He launched into the air and a Bludger was released.

Alex soared over the remaining four boys and tossed Mikhail a Beater's Bat. The younger boy caught it and the tryout began.

The Bludger circled around for a moment or two, then swooped in towards the younger boy. It came within three feet of him and he merely moved his broom aside, looking relieved.

Krum was rubbing his forehead. Obviously the point was not to dodge the Bludger!

The black ball circled back around and hit the boys' broom. He tumbled in the air, righted himself, and came back with a wild swing of his bat. He was lucky and caught the ball with a firm crack. It went sailing over towards the goal hoops, and bounced off the edge of the one furthest to the left.

Mikhail let out a frustrated growl, but pulled himself together in time for the Bludger to come back towards he and Alex.

It soared towards the larger Beater, and he swung his bat, sending the ball to Mikhail.

Again, Mikhail aimed as well as he could, but the Bludger missed the goal hoops by twenty feet.

By the time Mikhail had finished, he had scored two goals and was red in the face. Whether he was furious or just hot, Ekatrine didn't know. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. The other boys were called up one at a time—the two remaining fifth years played as well as they could, and one of them finally managed to score four goals.

His name was Alexis, and his surname had been said so quickly that Ekatrine had missed it.

He walked over and stood beside his fellow fifth years, a confidant grin on his face. He was excited at having beat the other two boys' goals of two and three.

"Volkova, Vladimir!"

The larger sixth year strode forward and launched himself into the air.

Ekatrine tightened her grip on the broomstick Krum was letting her borrow. She felt her gut wrench as she watched the other boys' spectacular movements and flowing flight.

He had managed to make his first goal without much trouble, aiming, beating and blasting the Bludger across the field into the center hoop.

He beat the ball back and forth between himself and Alex, and finally spun, making a second goal.

_CRACK!_

A third goal.

_CRACK!_

Fourth.

Ekatrine's heart was beating faster and faster. She felt her heart flutter and her throat grow tighter as he made the final goal, defeating the other boys' scores. Vladimir landed and dismounted. He strutted by in front of Ekatrine and sneered, "Beat that, Uriov."

Ekatrine's blood boiled and she quickly decided that such a cocky boy couldn't be allowed to make the team. She would have to make five goals to keep him from becoming the new Beater.

"Uriov, Krystof."

By the look on Krum's face, he also didn't want the boy to make the team.

Ekatrine mounted the broom and kicked off. Alex tossed her the bat, and she caught it easily. The Bludger was sent off, and it came at her without hesitation. She glided around with ease, placing herself in a better position. When the Bludger came into range, she flew at it and swung.

The bat connected with a firm _crack_, and the Bludger went flying into one of the goal hoops.

Alex grinned, but hid the smile by coughing into his shoulder.

The Bludger looped around and came right back at the smaller boy. Ekatrine glided straight up into the air, letting the Bludger miss her.

"You're supposed to hit it, you know!" Vladimir called from the ground below. He was laughing.

Krum shot him a dirty look, but kept his mouth shut. He turned his attention back to Krystof, silently wondering what the boy was up to.

Ekatrine circled around, following the Bludger across the stadium. She watched as it turned in the air and came right back at her. With a flare of show, she smacked the Bludger with her bat. It went straight towards the center hoop, but bounced off of the edge.

Vladimir was laughing so hard now he was nearly on the ground, but he stopped when the Bludger bounced into the hoop on the right of the center post.

Alex gave a whoop. He caught Krum's eye and pretended to go into a fit of coughing, though he saw even Krum smile at the showy goal.

Ekatrine had two tries left.

She glided around and gave Alex the thumbs up. He nodded, and she passed him the black ball after it had come after her.

The two flew around and to the back of the goalposts, the Bludger going into the one on the left after Ekatrine had smacked it with her bat.

Vladimir had stopped laughing. He was frowning. The new seventh year was one goal away from matching his score. He crossed his arms over his chest and kept his narrowed eyes on the smaller boy.

When the Bludger whirled around again, Ekatrine flew into a loop and caught it with the very tip of her bat.

Viktor felt his heart stop. Why had Krystof made such a desperate move? Surely the Bludger wouldn't go very far!

But that had been Ekatrine's plan. The Bludger changed course and shot towards the ground. She dove after it, and caught it with a quick turn of her broom and swing of her bat.

The Bludger shot into the goal post.

Anton and Yakov jumped up out of their seats and made soft "yes!" sounds, clasping their hands together, mimicking the sound of the club against the Bludger.

Ekatrine landed after Alex had caught the ball. He held it tightly under his arm and hid his face by wiping the sweat from his forehead, but a grin could be barely seen from under his sleeve.

Krum nodded and turned to the other boys. "Good job, boys. Vladimir and Krystof both got a score of five out of five. They will be going onto the next round."

The group of fifth years all left the field, going into the now crowded stands, looking very depressed and annoyed. They muttered back and forth between themselves. It was very, very rare that a boy under his sixth year made it onto any of the Durmstrang Quidditch Teams.

Krum turned back to Vladimir and Krystof. "Volkova, Uriov, you're going to play each other using the Bludger as the main ball. Whoever makes the most number of goals in five minutes using their bat, wins. Ready?"

"Yes, sir," Vladimir replied.

Krystof nodded firmly. "Yeah."

"On my whistle the match will begin. You are to stop the second my whistle blow again," he instructed. "Mount."

Ekatrine and Vladimir mounted their brooms, and Krum blew his whistle. Vladimir and Ekatrine launched up from the ground, Vladimir shoving into her seconds after liftoff, sending her into a slight spin.

The Bludger was released and the match began.

Vladimir snagged it first and shot it towards one of the goalposts. It went through and Ekatrine growled to herself. She shot after the Bludger, pushing herself low against her broom. She hit it just as it whirred back towards Vladimir, and sent it in the direction of the posts.

Vladimir shot after her, and smashed into her sidelong, sending her shot wild. He took over, the entire stadium booing and hollering. There were maybe fifty students out on the field and a few teachers. They had all woken up early enough to see the final match of the tryouts, everyone curious to see who would win and if Uriov was as good as Alex had continuously made him out to be.

Ekatrine felt her blood boil and she shot after him. She swooped above him and jerked sharply in front of him just as he sent the Bludger towards the goalposts, blocking his shot.

She took the ball, turned and slammed it through the hoop.

One and one.

The ball shot straight up into the air, Ekatrine following it. Vladimir was right on the tip of her broomstick, ready to grab her out of the air should she reach the ball first.

He managed to reach forwards with his bat and knock her aside with such force that she was sent spinning.

He shot the ball back down to the earth, himself in its wake.

Ekatrine righted herself and followed, fury thudding through her. She watched as he sent another shot, but it went wild and the ball flew thirty feet to the left of the furthest hoop, hitting the side of the stadium, showering Krum in brick, wood and stone.

The Captain knocked the dust from himself, watching as Vladimir shot past, Krystof right on his tail.

"Get 'em, Krys," Krum snarled under his breath.

Ekatrine twisted herself around, seeing the Bludger change course. She shot after it. Her smaller frame allowed her to change course much faster than Volkova, and so she reached the ball sooner. She hit it and the Bludger shot through one of the hoops.

The crowd let out a wild cheer, the score now two and one.

Ekatrine didn't allow the noise to distract her. She shot to the Bludger, where it was flying around behind the goalposts.

Vladimir snagged her by the robes, pulling her behind himself. He snapped his bat, and the Bludger went through the hoop.

Two and two.

He turned and smirked at the smaller boy. He turned to the crowd, demanding cheers. So confidant was he that he had forgotten that the Bludger could move. It went sailing passed Ekatrine's head and knocked right into Vladimir's side.

Ekatrine hardly allowed a smile, though she was very pleased that the ass had been knocked from his broom. He righted himself quickly, but was meters behind the smaller boy.

Ekatrine lifted her bat and swung with as much force as she could. She could see the giant clock, the seconds ticking away. If she made this goal, she would win the match.

Vladimir came out of nowhere, shoving her aside and hitting the ball instead. She let out a cry of rage, shoved him aside and raced after the ball. She lifted both her hands from the handle of the broom and swung at the Bludger from behind as hard as she could. She felt the broom slip out from under her, but didn't care. It didn't matter, so long as she made the final goal.

Her bat connected with a loud _CRACK_, and a shower of splinters exploded in front of her. She began to fall, her broom slipping from under her. She watched as the Bludger soared into the goal just as Viktor blew his whistle.

The crowd let out an explosion of cheers, and Ekatrine laughed. She had managed to catch her broomstick with one hand, the other holding the broken Beaters Bat.

Vladimir raced at her, and at first she thought he was coming to help, but his eyes were filled with anger, and he smashed into her. She lost the grip on her broom, a sickening crunch coming from her side.

She landed hard on the ground, her side searing with pain.

Viktor let out an enraged scream, "THE MATCH IS OVER!"

The entire stadium was booing and shouting. Ekatrine felt dizzy, breath coming to her in short gasps. She could hardly breathe.

Professor Vasska was the first to reach her. He knelt beside her in the damp grass and lifted his wand. "Hold on, Uriov."

The entire Wrathoth team crowded around her, and Ekatrine blacked out.

"Will he be alright?"

"For the last time, Mr. Molokai, _yes_, he will be _fine_."

Ekatrine sifted back into consciousness, but allowed her eyes to remain closed. She felt pain explode from her side and let out an involuntary gasp.

"See? Mr. Uriov is awake."

Ekatrine's eyes snapped open, and she looked up into a circle of faces. Alex joined them. He looked relieved.

"Hey, Uriov," he said with a smile. "You took quite a hit. You alright?"

She nodded, dizzy. "W-wh…"

"Krum beat the _crap_ out of Volkova," laughed Yakov. "Headmaster Karkaroff is talking to him right now. Krum's pretty pissed."

Ekatrine groaned. "My side…"

"Vasska healed it. It'll hurt for a while, but you should be fine," Alex replied.

"_Professor_," Dusan replied, but even he looked relieved.

"Yeah, Professor," Alex said. He seemed to have a new sort of respect for the teacher. "He was really worried…thought you had internal bleeding…that's hard for even magic to cure, you know."

"Okay, boys," came a new voice, obviously the one of the medical officer. "Mr. Uriov needs his rest. You can come back in a few hours."

"Count on it," said Anton with a smile.

"Yeah, and Krum'll be with us, too," replied Yakov.

The Quidditch Team left the room, and the medical officer walked into Ekatrine's sight. He looked into the young boy's eyes and said, "Your wristwatch went off ten minutes ago. Your wand is beside your bed."

The curtain was draw around Ekatrine, and the man left her.

Ekatrine slowly rolled her head to hoop on the right of the center post bounced into the hoop on the right of the center post the side and spotted her wand. She grasped it firmly in her hand and said softly, "_Aramendo_."

She felt the spell renew itself and quietly reset her watch, though she moved very slowly. Ekatrine then fell back into a deep, dark sleep.

She woke up a few hours later to a loud _pop_.

"What?" her eyes scanned the room around her, and landed on Alex's face. He was grinning.

"He's alive!" Alex shouted, a snap cracker in his hands.

"_SHHH_!" a number of voices snapped.

"Sorry," Alex said meekly. He turned back over to Ekatrine, a number of other faces appearing.

She rubbed her head, making certain her hair was still short subconsciously. "What was that?"

"We're celebrating," Yakov said with a lopsided grin.

"Celebrating?"

"Yeah," said Anton. "Not only did you make the team instead of that jerk Volkova, and not only did Krum beat the snot out of him, _buuuttttt_…"

"He got _away_ with it!" crowed Alex.

Krum's face came into view, his hawk-nose and heavy eyebrows a welcome sight to the girl-turned-boy on the bed. She smiled.

"Tell Krys about it, Krum," said Yakov grinning widely. "Go on, tell 'em!"

Krum smirked. "He's not going to bug you anymore."

"He's not going to bug _anyone_ anymore," said Alex, his grin growing wider still. "Krum beat him so bad he's not even in school!"

"And you got away with it?" Ekatrine asked, her jaw dropping.

"Krummy here is Karkaroff's favorite," replied Alex.

"_Headmaster_," snapped Dusan. "_Headmaster_ Karkaroff."

Alex waved his hand as though ridding himself of a giant bug. "Whatever. The point is, Krum didn't get in any trouble!"

"Well, that's not completely true," Krum said softly. "I have a month of detention."

"Hence, no trouble!" Alex grinned.

Ekatrine propped herself up onto her elbows, her side throbbing mildly. Obviously whatever had been done to heal her had gone into affect. She felt much better. She wanted to thank Krum, but wasn't sure how to go about it. Finally, she said, "Thanks, Krum."

He shrugged, but smiled nonetheless.

"What time is it?"

"Near five," replied Anton. "Why?"

She shook her head, quickly doing math in her head. She had less than an hour before the spell wore off again. "No reason."

"Hey, Prof, when is he out of here?" Alex called over to the medical officer.

"_Professor_," hissed Dusan again, his icy eyes narrowed.

"_Whatever_!"

The medical officer came into view and looked down at Ekatrine. He pressed his hand against her side, feeling for anything. "He seems fine. If he can stand, he can go."

Ekatrine sat up and rolled out of the bed onto her feet. She felt her side throb again mildly, but was able to stand.

"He can go," the matron said, leaving the bedside to attend another, far more needy student.

Ekatrine pocketed her wand and followed her new teammates from the small hospital wing.

Alex was recapping how Krum had beat Vladimir up, and how the younger boy had looked after the beating. Ekatrine smiled to herself as she listened. She kept a close eye on her watch, however, not wanting to transform before the boys.

They reached the door into the Common Room and Dusan hissed, "_Snarata_." The door swung open, and as she passed it, Ekatrine swore she saw one of the eyes open again and squint at her. However, the eye was gone from sight the second she blinked.

It shut behind them after they entered the Common Room. The fifth years were all crowded over at one table, bent over something and murmuring to one another.

Krum and the Quidditch Team collapsed onto the chairs and couches around the fire pit and began to talk. Vodka was passed around, and everyone drank heartily. Even the fifth years were offered some of the drink. They refused and left for the library with their books and parchment.

"Their loss!" huffed Alex, his nose red. "To Krystof! To Krum! To…to…"

"QUIDDITCH!" roared Yakov and Anton, the clear liquid spilling from their glasses.

"To Quidditch!" shouted Alex, heaving his glass to theirs. They all downed their drinks and within moments were dancing around the fire, recapping the tryouts and the final game.

Ekatrine sipped her vodka carefully, keeping herself sober. Krum was also sipping his vodka with similar care. His eyes were focused on the flames before him, impervious to the noise of his teammates.

Dusan stirred his drink and took a gentle sip, his eyes focused on Krystof. Oleg suddenly burst into the room.

"Oleg!" gasped Alex. He grabbed the boy by the arm, dragging him into the frolicking. Oleg, however, looked very pale.

"Where were you today?" asked Krum calmly.

"Krum, something's happened," Oleg gasped, pushing the others from him. He rushed over to the Captain and began to whisper to him, a rolled up newspaper in his hand.

Krum's expression dropped quickly.

Ekatrine leaned back into her chair, wondering what had happened, when her watch went off. "Sorry," she said quickly, and turning it off, she stood and hurried from the room.

Oleg ignored the new boy and continued whispering to Krum, the others now paying dear attention to the soft conversation between the two boys.

Dusan stood and also left the room. He followed a few minutes behind Krystof, who had gone into the bathroom.

After opening the door he heard a soft, "Aramendo," and Krystof appeared from one of the stalls, shoving his wand into a pocket. He looked up at Dusan. "What's happened?"

"Do you always have to go to the restroom every six hours?" Dusan asked slowly walking towards the other boy.

"Bladder problem," lied Krystof. He washed his hands and dried them with a towel. "Can't do anything about it."

Dusan hardly looked convinced. In fact, he hardly looked anything.

"What happened?" Krys asked again, a little more forcefully.

"I don't know," Dusan replied. "You got up and left too soon for me to find out."

"You could have stayed in there," replied Krystof, annoyed.

Dusan strode over to him. "So could you."

The bathroom door burst open and Krum walked in, followed by the others. "Krys, something's happened."

"What?"

"We…just got the news," whispered Alex sadly. "I'm so sorry, Krys."

"What happened?" Krystof demanded, his body growing tense.

"Your brother…he's…dead," said Oleg.

For a moment, Ekatrine had no idea who they were talking about. She was an only child…she didn't have any—"Oh, God," she gasped. "No!" Her childhood friend, Ilya Uriov. "Ilya!"

"That's him," whispered Oleg sadly. "They found his body this morning…Death-Eaters…"

"How…how did you find out?"

"Headmaster Karkaroff sent me to Varna this morning to look through the Muggle newsstands," replied Oleg. "He sends someone every Saturday…it was on the front page…" He held up a newspaper, the picture of a boy on the front page. The caption read, _Boy Killed by Unknown Means_. "I'm so sorry, Krystof."

Ekatrine's legs gave out and she collapsed. "God, no…"

Krum looked at the others, and they all left. He knelt beside Krystof. "Krys, there was nothing anyone…I mean…Ilya wasn't even magic, right…? He was…Muggle…"

Ekatrine's eyes met his, tears welling in their depths. "He…he was…"

"Your brother," whispered Krum. "I'm so sorry…"

"Did his parents…where they…?"

"Yeah…"

For some reason, Ekatrine couldn't comprehend what Oleg had said. What any of them had said.

Krum placed a hand on her shoulder. "Krys…I know this is going to sound odd…but I thought you said your parents were…already dead."

"Ilya was…a very good friend of mine," she replied, wiping her eyes. "We were like brothers…shared the same surname…" Fresh tears boiled out of her eyes and she buried her face into her hands. "Oh, _Ilya_…"

"Come on," Krum said softly. "You've had a rough day."

He helped Ekatrine to her feet and the two left the room.


	3. PART THREE: EKATRINE LOGACHOV

**PART THREE:**

**EKATRINE LOGACHOV**

A month passed and Ekatrine had become accustomed to the life of a boy. The only time she was ever female was when she was asleep. The death of Ilya Uriov had sent a chill up her spine. She knew it was a warning. The Death-Eaters had known she would get the message, but the past month had come and gone, and there had been no other deaths.

Ekatrine was sitting out by the stables. It was a Saturday, and normally she would have had Quidditch practice, but the heavy snow and ice that came down from the sky had forced Krum to cancel the practice.

She was dressed in a heavy coat, her fur hat pulled over her ears. She and Krum had been spending a lot of time together, even though they had finished their basic magic lessons a while back.

Krum walked towards her, the deep snow crunching under his boots. "Hey."

Ekatrine turned to him, a small smile spreading on her lips. "Hey."

He sat beside her on the rock. She had cleaned the snow from it before and was now merely staring out into the forest. Misty breath came from her nose and mouth.

"Headmaster Karkaroff told me I finished my detentions," said Krum softly.

"Good."

"Volkova is back, too," Krum added. "He won't come near you, though…thinks I have a…erm…thing for you." Krum laughed bitterly at this.

Ekatrine rested her head against her folded arms. "He's insane, that Volkova."

Krum shrugged.

"Where are the others?"

"They went to Varna for the day," Krum said. "No Quidditch practice…they wanted to go look at girls."

"You should have gone with them," replied Ekatrine.

"Couldn't, had to finish detention."

She nodded. "You can go now, though."

He shrugged again.

They sat in silence for a long time, watching as the snow fell to the white ground below. Icy winds picked the fresh snow up from the ground, sending it whipping across the field and into their faces.

"I got a letter from Hermoine," Krum said suddenly.

Ekatrine glanced at him. He hadn't talked about her very much lately. "That's good."

Krum nodded, though it was a sad nod. He rubbed his eyes, and Ekatrine saw that he had been crying.

"What'd she say?"

Krum pulled the crumpled parchment from his pocket and handed it to the other boy.

Ekatrine opened it and flattened it out. It was blotched with tears, and some of the ink was smudged, but she could still read it.

_Dearest Viktor,_

_Thank you for the wonderful letter last month. I'm glad you found a new Beater. Krystof sounds like a wonderful guy, and I'm sure you two will get along great. _

_I'm so sorry my letters have been coming later and later, but some things have come up. My friends and I have become very busy with certain things that I cannot discuss. _

_I wish I didn't have to say this, but I can't write to you anymore. I will miss you, and hopefully I will be able to write you again in the future. _

_Goodbye, _

_Hermoine Granger_

Ekatrine gently handed the letter back to Viktor. "I'm sorry…"

"Thanks," he replied, taking the letter back. "Of course, this means she's breaking up with me." He gave off a bitter laugh. "I kind of figured when she rejected my invite to Bulgaria last summer that she'd break up with me. I just didn't think she'd do it like this."

"She might not be—"

"She is," replied Krum sadly. "Trust me, Krys. Girls…they're crazy, you know? They say they want to be with you forever one minute, and then the next they dump you flat on your face." He looked at the other boy. "You're lucky you've never had a girlfriend."

Ekatrine looked down at her shoes. "Not really. I don't know anything about loving someone else. I can care deeply for them, but my parents were really the only people I ever loved. You're lucky you've had the chance to feel it…even if it hurts in the end."

Krum shook his head. "It sucks, trust me."

"Think of it differently," Ekatrine said slowly, trying to bring Krum's spirits up. "There are two kinds of leaders that history has seen. There were men like Alexander the Great, and men like many of the democratic leaders we have now. Alexander rode to battle while democratic leaders today stay hidden in a cellar, talking to their armies over microphones. Who do you think history will remember? Alexander, who rode in front of his army for a cause, or a president who hides in a bunker and commands his army from there, safe and sound?"

"What does this have to do with Hermoine?" Krum asked with a soft laugh.

"Answer the question."

"Alexander, but—"

"Right," said Ekatrine. "So, Alexander took the chance that he might die—but he took it face on. He rode before his army, just so that he could try and unite the world. He is the greater warrior not because he conquered so many people, but because he was prepared to do anything to unite the world."

Krum shook his head. "I still don't understand."

"You took a chance, Krum. You took the chance and went to the Yule Ball with Hermoine, knowing that she might reject you. That's the difference. You put yourself on the line, were prepared to get hurt, just for the chance she might say yes."

Viktor smiled slowly and asked, "Krys, that's all well and good, but…"

"But what? You know what love is, just like Alexander knew what pride was, what life was worth living, and for that, history chose to remember him. People who can do that sort of thing are the people that make a difference in the world. It doesn't matter who's who or what position of power they have, it's what they do that defines them. You know now that you can tell someone how you feel and take the rejection."

"So can you."

"No," replied Ekatrine softly. "I can't."

Krum placed his hand on his friends shoulder. Needless to say, he felt better. "Is there a girl in Varna? Someone you like?"

Ekatrine laughed tenderly. "Hardly."

"Well, you know," Krum said softly, "not all Alexander's can command an army alone." He clapped the smaller boy on the shoulder and left.

Ekatrine watched as he disappeared into the snow and back towards the castle. She leaned back on the rock and looked up into the cold sky.

An hour or so later, she went back inside and into the Common Room. It was empty, a hot fire cracking in the center of the room. She felt her clothes grown bigger and left the room quickly.

She had stopped using the bathroom to transform after Dusan had nearly found out who she was.

Ekatrine went into the room, the door closing behind her. It stopped before latching, but she didn't notice. She quickly took of her wet coat and hat and changed out of her pants.

Pulling on her clean uniform, Ekatrine walked over to the mirror and looked herself over.

"Fancy meeting you here," Serge said from behind her.

She looked at him from the mirror. "What do you want, Serge?" The ghost had been coming and going rather randomly the past month. He had sometimes pointed out to her that Krum was going to find out who she was, but had seemed to given up on it a week ago.

"That uniform is big," he said, leaning on his hands. "It should be taken in."

"It's a boys uniform," she replied as she had done nearly every time he pointed this out. "Besides, I'm a boy now, remember?"

"Only until someone finds out otherwise."

"No one's going to find out," she replied.

"…Really?"

Krum had been walking down the hallway and paused at the sound of voices. He had thought everyone was in Varna for the day. He walked over to Krystof's door and listened, wondering whom his friend was talking to.

"How do you know?" the ghost asked.

"_Aramendo_," she said, and her form filled the uniform once again. She stated bluntly in her male voice, "Because I do."

The ghost merely laughed. "If you say so, _Russia_…"

"Don't call me that," snorted Krystof. There were a few seconds of silence, and Krum heard Krystof mutter, "Good riddance…that ghost…"

Krum frowned. He had heard the spell _Aramendo_ before, but where? He turned and left back down the hall and into the Common Room. He began flipping through spell books, but couldn't find the spell anywhere.

Krystof entered the room. "Hey."

Krum looked up and smirked. "How much homework do you have?"

"The same amount as you," the other boy replied with a yawn. "Who are we playing tomorrow?"

"Boonhorn," replied Viktor, knowing Krystof knew who they were playing, and merely making conversation.

"Great," sighed Krystof. They had already played Mumblewarts, and had won only a half hour into the game when Krum had caught the Snitch. "They beat Seantinn, right?"

"Yeah."

Krystof nodded and relaxed on the couch. "That means Grifithmine has a bye…what are you looking for?"

"A spell," replied Krum, flipping through the pages of his Transfiguration book. He paused when he reached the index and scanned through it. Page 102. He flipped back to the page and scanned it as well. When he found the spell name, he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly through his nose.

Aramendo was a Transfiguration spell used to change the gender of a person. It was similar to the Ployjuice Potion, but instead of allowing that person to actually become someone else, it merely changed his or her gender. The spell lasted for six hours, and the counter-spell was Tranmendo.

"What spell?" Krystof asked from the couch.

Krum stood up slowly, his mind reeling. Did that mean Krystof was a girl? He looked over at his friend, who was facing the other way. Krystof was lazily levitating an object above his head.

"_T-Tranmendo_," Krum said pointing his wand at Krystof. His heart was beating quickly, his gut wrenching.

"What was that?" Krystof asked, sitting up. The object that had he had been levitating fell to the floor with a soft _thud_. He looked over at Krum, and Krum's jaw went slack. Before him, sitting right where Krystof had been only seconds before was a girl.

"Y-you…you're a _girl_?"

Ekatrine looked down at her hands and gasped. "Oh _no_!"

"A _girl_?!" Krum roared. "How long have you been…are you…you're…!"

"Shhh!" Ekatrine gasped. "Krum, please! No one can know!"

Krum still stared at her blankly. Finally he gasped, "I've got to go talk to Karkaroff."

"No!" Ekatrine stood up and tripping around her robes and shoes, she stood in front of the door. "He knows I'm here, Krum, but if you tell him…or anyone else, I'll have to leave!"

Krum just started at her. "You're a _girl_, Krystof! …If that's even your real name!"

"It isn't," she said quickly. "Please, Krum, let me explain."

He shook his head, and shoved past her and out the door.

"Krum! _Aramendo_!" she followed him before the spell had started working. Krum had disappeared down the hallway and she followed as fast as she could. "Krum, wait!"

She shoved past a group of seventh year Mumblewarts students, receiving a number of hisses and snaps from their wands.

Ekatrine refused to admit the feeling their fiery wands had lain on her skin, and ran down the wooden hall after the boy.

Finally, she stopped. Krum was nowhere to be seen. She hurried out of the castle and to the stables. The doors were locked, and she could see footprints in the snow. "_Alohamora_!"

The doors opened and she looked around. Krum wasn't inside. The footprints had been from before.

She cursed and ran across the field. Finally she reached the Quidditch Stadium. She walked through the locker room and out onto the field. Krum was seated at the very top, his broom beside him.

Ekatrine grabbed a school broom and launched herself to the top. She landed beside him and said, "Krum, I'm sorry I didn't tell you…I—wait!"

Krum had grabbed his own broom and jumped into the snowy air. He glided away, disappearing into the snow.

She remounted the broomstick and followed him as best she could. "KRUM!"

Finally she was forced to stop flying. Krum was a much better flyer than her, stronger, too, and had managed to disappear into the storm without a trace.

Ekatrine landed in the deep snow and collapsed into tears.

Nearly a week passed by, and though Krum hadn't spoken to her, he had returned to the school. As far as she knew, Krum had also kept the secret of Krystof Uriov's true identity to himself.

The Quidditch Game against Boonhorn had been postponed due to the weather, which had only grown worse over the course of Saturday night. The snow still hadn't let up throughout the week, and the grounds were covered in a heavy blanket of nearly four feet.

Any time Krum was in the same room as Ekatrine, he sat as far away from her as he could. The other members of the team had noticed this sudden change of emotion and were thoroughly confused.

Alex sat beside Krystof at lunch on Friday and asked, "You and Krum have a fight?"

"You could say that," Ekatrine replied sadly. She was stirring her stew as she had done at every meal.

"You should eat something," said Alex. "They won't postpone the game again…we have to play in this crap tomorrow."

"Not hungry."

"You haven't eaten anything all week," Oleg said from across the table. Ekatrine looked at him with mild curiosity. "Yes, I've noticed. We all have."

Krum wasn't in the room—he had left the second Krystof had walked in. "Not hungry."

"Eat," said Alex. "Food's good for you…even this slop is better than nothing."

Ekatrine stood up and left the room abruptly. "I gotta go…place…"

The others exchanged glances but didn't say anything. They knew that something big had happened because Krum usually forgave minor things.

Ekatrine walked through the hallways until she reached her next class. As she had expected, Professor Vova wasn't there yet. Krum, on the other hand, was.

"Krum," she said softly.

Krum ignored her, looking outside.

Ekatrine felt a stab of pain hit her. It was one thing to have him not speak to her, but for him to merely pretend she wasn't there…

She locked the door and said softly, waving her wand, "_Tranmendo_." Her clothes became too big and baggy and she walked over to Krum in floppy shoes. "Krum…I'm so sorry…I couldn't tell you…"

He still said nothing.

"Krum, please…" she waited, but he still didn't look at her—not even at her reflection in the glass. Taking in a deep breath, Ekatrine said, "My name isn't Krystof…it's Ekatrine. Ekatrine Logachov, and I'm from Russia. I…I couldn't tell you who I was…the Ministry of Magic made me swear not to tell because my mom was a Death-Eater. She resigned, gave the Ministry information, and they hid her and my dad in return. I guess You-Know-Who found them…and…there was an accident. That's…how they died…Krum, I'm so sorry…"

He held his silence, his eyes focused outside, on the falling snow and ice-covered windows.

Ekatrine looked at her hands, trying to figure out what to say. Finally, she murmured, "If you want, I can resign from the team. As soon as Karkaroff finds out you know, I'll have to leave anyway."

When Krum didn't reply, she stood up. "So…that's it then…" She turned and left the room, pausing and whispering before she opened the door, "_Aramendo_." The door clicked shut behind her.

Krum clenched his fist, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill down his face. He gritted his teeth and a vase nearby shattered, water pooling up on the floor.

When the lesson started, Professor Vova checked to see who had come into class. He paused before asking, "Where is Mr. Uriov? And Mr. Krum?"

There was an explosion of whispering, but nobody seemed to know where the two had gone.

The Professor paused, his frown growing deeper by the second. Finally he said, "I suppose they've become sick. Whatever the reason is, mind you all that even _one_ missed class is not acceptable in Durmstrang. Now, let us begin with the lesson."

Alex exchanged glances with Oleg, who looked back at Dusan. When Dusan finally looked up, Oleg made a motion, asking if he knew anything about the whereabouts of the two Quidditch Players.

Dusan shook his head and returned to his work. Even if he had known, he wouldn't have told them.

Ekatrine would have gone back to her room, but she knew that if she did, someone would look for her there. She wanted to be alone. She needed to think.

Walking through the cold snow, she finally reached the stables. She unlocked the door and went inside, relocking the wooden doors to keep the cold out. She looked around the dark room, pausing before she went further into it.

Walking by the stall she had set on fire, she paused again. A swell of emotions erupted inside of her and she quickly walked past it.

Finding an empty stall at the end of the room, she went into it and hid amongst the store of hay. She whispered, "_Tranmendo_." Her robes became bulky again, and she leaned her forehead against her folded arms.

For a long time, she couldn't cry. The tears wouldn't come, and she just sat with her thoughts as her only company. Finally, they spilled from her eyes in gigantic, wet droplets. They slid down her face and landed on her robes and arms. She rubbed her eyes, her hair waving in front of her pale face.

"You're sad."

Ekatrine jumped, pulling her hands from her eyes, her wand in her hand. She held it up, ready to use it if she had to.

Before her knelt Dusan.

"Dusan," she gasped, quickly wiping her face. "What…?"

He placed a hand against her face. "Professor Vova saw you and Krum missing from class."

"But…you're…how?"

"I told you I'm different," he said softly. "I can…how would they call it…be in two places in one time. I am in class, but I am also here."

She pushed her short hair back from her face and asked softly, "You're not…surprised, are you? You knew all along, didn't you?"

"I had my suspicions," he replied tenderly. His eyes had lost their icy flare and now glowed with the warmth of a warm hearth. "But it is not me that you need to worry about. Krum is gone."

"Gone? Where?"

Dusan shook his head. "I know not…he will have left to someplace secret…secluded. Did he ever show you such a place?"

"No," Ekatrine replied softly. "No…there was no place…"

The boy was carefully watching her, as though hoping she'd give him something to go off of. Finally he said, "I can sense his feelings…he's sad. Very, very sad. Angry, tormented…confused. You tried speaking with him, yes?"

She nodded.

"Try again," he said. "Find him and try again. It may work this time."

Ekatrine shook her head. "He won't talk to me, Dusan. I tried…twice…"

"Try again," he repeated. "I must go now…Vova is wondering what I am doing behind my book…"

His image disappeared, sinking away into the dim shadows of the room.

Ekatrine wiped her eyes, trying to think of where Krum might have gone. He had been in the Quidditch Stadium last time she had seen him, and so standing quickly, she rushed out of the stables and into the cold. She tried as hard as she could to run in the knee-deep snow, and finally managed to reach the stadium ten minutes later.

She burst into the locker room and looked around. "Krum?" she called.

No reply.

Ekatrine hurried out of the locker room and into the center of the stadium. He was nowhere in sight, but she could hardly see beyond her nose. The wind had picked up, tossing ice into her face.

It burned and she yelped as a larger ball of ice hit her face, followed by another ball. The wind was strong, but not that strong.

Turing to see where the ice had come from, she saw a person emerge from the storm. It was Viktor.

"Viktor!" she called over the gales, but he hardly replied, or if he did, his voice was carried away by the rough winds. She watched as he leaned over and scooped up another handful of snow and ice and hurled it at her.

He was hardly ten feet from her. She stumbled backwards, lifting her arm to try and block the blow.

Viktor stumbled through the deep snow, another clump of ice in his bare hands. He was screaming something, his heavy eyebrows covered in ice and snow.

Finally he reached her, grabbing her by the shoulders and pushing her into the snow. He landed on top of her, but was holding the ice high above his head. He cried over the gale, "YOU LIED TO ME!"

"I'm sorry!" she screamed back. "I'm so sorry, Viktor!"

"You said you wouldn't lie again!" he shouted, and she could see that he had been crying. "You promised!"

Ekatrine sat up and said, "Viktor, I can't change the past. I did what I did, and I can't change that, but I can change the future."

Even though she wasn't yelling, Viktor still seemed to know what she was saying. He lowered the clump of ice, letting it fall into the snow. He leaned his head onto her shoulder and sobbed, "You lied…you lied…"

She put her arms around the boy and said softly into his ear, "I know, and I'm promising you—I won't do it again…never again…"

They sat in the locker room, the doors closed against the freezing wind and ice.

Viktor handed Ekatrine a glass of cool water. "Sorry, we don't have a hot coca machine in here."

She smiled and accepted it. "Thanks."

He rubbed his hands together. Even though the two of them had been inside for nearly a half hour, his hands were still red.

"Let me see your hands," she said, setting the cup down.

He sat beside her on the hard bench, holding his hands out for her to look at. She held them tenderly, turning them about. Finally she said, "They look frostbitten. Here, I'll conjure a fire…" she took her wand out and sent a shot at the fire pit in the center of the room.

Krum smiled. "Your aim is much better."

"Thanks to you," she replied. She was still holding his hands, and began to examine them again. "Is there a spell to cure cold hands?" she asked.

Viktor laughed.

Ekatrine frowned. She hadn't meant it to be a joke. "I'm serious. Is there?"

"No," replied Viktor. "At least, none of magic aside from fire."

"Then go sit closer to the fire," she said standing up.

"What are you going to do?"

"Hang my robes. They're soaked…I imagine yours are, too."

"Yes, but you can't hang them."

"Fine then," she went to remove her robes and change into her Quidditch outfit when Krum said, "You can't hang yours, either."

She turned to him. "Why not?"

Krum stood up and walked over to her. He pressed her into one of the wooden lockers. "Because they look better on you."

Ekatrine felt her heart flutter and her gut knot. "Krum…?"

"We're on a first-name basis, now," he replied softly. "_Ekatrine_…"

"Oh," she said in a small voice.

Viktor leaned forward and whispered into her ear, "It's very cold in here."

She felt her heart beat faster and faster, her breath coming short. Finally she said, "I…could…make the fire bigger…"

He chuckled against her neck, his tongue flicking out from his mouth. "Funny…"

She swallowed and he tenderly bit her neck. Her chest rose and fell as she tried to contend with the explosion of feelings that rushed through her mind and body. Her fingers were tingling, her toes numb. "Krum…"

"_Viktor_," he corrected her softly.

"Vik-tor," she rasped.

He pressed his hand against her stomach and lifted his gray eyes to her brown ones. A soft smile lifted on his face and he said, "My hands are getting warmer, I think."

She placed her hand over his and smiled. "I think so, too."

"You see?" he asked. "No magic…just warmth. _Obicham_. Love. It heals all."

Ekatrine couldn't help but smile. "I suppose that's true enough…"

He leaned over and gently pressed his lips to hers.

_Love_… she wondered. _Is that what this is? …Has to be…_

The Wrathoth Quidditch Team walked into the center of the stadium and was greeted with an explosion of cheers. The defeated teams had both chosen sides for the game, but Grifithmine was set out from the crowd, a small sea of purple and gold. They had chosen not to choose a side for the game, as they would be playing the winner for first place.

Alex glanced at Oleg, who in turn looked to Yakov. Yakov looked at Anton, and Anton to Dusan, who just shrugged. Krystof and Krum were on speaking terms again, though none of them really knew how it had come to pass—at least, no one aside from Dusan. Even then, Dusan didn't know the full story.

"Let's do dis like a—"

"Shut up, Alex," said Dusan calmly.

Oleg sniggered. "—_Buddhist_."

The bad weather had lifted for the day, it seemed, as there were still clouds hanging above threateningly. Soft flakes of snow were still falling, but they were nothing compared to the gale the previous week had been witness to. The air, however, was still bitter cold.

"If we win this," Alex said over the crowd's noise, his voice appearing as puffs on the chilly air, "we're going to get drunk and take a nice, long, hot bath. Agreed?"

"Agreed!" sang Yakov and Anton.

Oleg nodded. "Yeah. I'm, for that."

"Krum?" Alex asked.

"Yeah," Krum replied. "Sure, whatever."

"He's in his pre-game world," said Anton.

Dusan glanced over at Krystof, who had a smile on his face. He looked relaxed and ready to play. As the teams approached the center of the field, the professor in charge of flight said, "Captain's, shake hands!"

The captain of the Boonhorn team was big and burly—a Beater, no doubt. His name was Ulric, and he had the look on his face of a vicious animal.

"Mount your brooms!"

They mounted, Krystof using Krum's old broomstick.

The Quaffel, Snitch, and Bludgers were released, the teacher blew his whistle, and the game began.

"And they're off!" came a voice over the speaker. "After Uriov's last game, I can't _wait_ to see how well he plays today…I wonder if he'll mess up as bad as we all think he will? After all, he and Krum haven't exactly been on speaking terms lately…"

Ekatrine paused slightly and turned to see Vladimir Volkova in the stands, speaking into the megaphone.

She frowned, but turned right back into the game, hitting a Bludger away from Dusan, who was doing an astounding job of getting the Quaffel away from the other team.

Dusan passed the red ball to Yakov, who in turn passed it in between the Keeper's legs and into the goal hoop.

There was an eruption of cheers from the side of the stadium covered in bronze and red. Someone even shot bronze sparks into the air that shifted into the form of the Wrathoth dragon.

"Ten, nothing, to Wrathoth," came an annoyed voice over the intercom.

Ekatrine rolled her eyes. Of course he didn't like the fact that his own team was winning. The jerk probably wanted to switch Houses after what Krum had done to him… She smiled. Even from this far, she could see the bruises that blotched his skin. He had a few cuts here and there. Obviously he had refused any medical treatment.

She soared over towards the other side of the field, keeping a close eye on the Bludgers that came around her team.

Another of the black balls shot past her and towards Krum. She shot after it, smacking it away and back towards the Boonhorn Beater. He ducked and gave her the finger. She blew him a kiss and laughed at his disgusted expression.

"…and now Boonhorn finally manages to retrieve the Quaffel! They go in for the goal…Ivanov shoots! …And, it's blocked by the Wrathoth keeper, Anton…"

"He sounds more and more disappointed that his own team is good!" shouted Alex over the noise of the crowd and shill of the air.

Ekatrine laughed. "Yeah, I know!"

"Oleg has the Quaffel…"

Alex swung his Beater's Bat, smashing it right into the Bludger and sending it across the field and into Boonhorn territory.

Ekatrine glided around, keeping her eyes open for the other Bludger. Krum was sitting high above everyone else, along with the Boonhorn Keeper. They were both searching for the Snitch, which had apparently disappeared.

"Another score for Wrathoth…twenty, nothing…"

Again, the Quaffel changed sides, but it didn't take long for Yakov to manage an interception.

"We're so kicking ass today," came Anton's voice from Ekatrine's left. She smiled and gave a thumbs up.

Diving back into the game, she smashed a Bludger away from Dusan, who seemed to have become the target of the other teams' Beaters. She shot it right back towards a Boonhorn Chaser, who screamed at the Beater closest to him. The Beater had failed to beat the Bludger, and the Chaser had just barely dodged it.

There was an enormous cheer from the Boonhorn supporters as they finally scored a goal.

"And Boonhorn finally manages a goal! Twenty, ten, Wrathoth…"

Krum suddenly dove.

Ekatrine watched him, wondering why he was coming right at her. The Boonhorn Seeker was right behind him, both of them looking intently at Ekatrine. She pulled her broom aside, managing to miss getting hit by the two Seekers.

They circled around, Krum yelling something at her. She rubbed the back of her neck, her hand bumping into something cold and hard. She suddenly realized what it was—the Snitch!

She took in a deep breath and dodged the Boonhorn Seeker as he came at her, moving just so that Krum could reach his arm forward and—

Their brooms tangled, and the two of them began to fall from the sky. They landed on in the soft snow, and Krum sat up, the Snitch in his hand. He grinned and hoisted it into the air.

An explosion came from the crowd, and a number of bronze and red dragons burst into the air, circling the stadium.

"Wrathoth wins the game, one-hundred-and-seventy to ten…"

Krum smiled over at Ekatrine, who was also cheering. This meant they went onto the final game for the Quidditch Cup.

The entire Wrathoth Quidditch Team landed in the snow, screaming and shouting. Alex and Krystof hoisted Krum into the air, Yakov and Oleg singing in half-drunken voices while Dusan followed behind, a smile plastered to his sallow face.

When they entered the Common Room, the entire team was singing, Krum's arms around Krystof and Alex.

"To the bath!" roared Alex. "To the vodka!"

The group of fifth years greeted the winning team with shouts of joy.

"Vodka all around!" shouted Yakov. He hoisted a bottle at the three younger boys, who took it gleefully.

Vladimir strode into the room, a dark look on his face. At first, he didn't say anything. Then, he strutted past Ekatrine, shoving her into Viktor. Viktor snarled, but Ekatrine shook her head. "S'ok, Vik. Time to celebrate."

Alex, Yakov, and Anton were running down one of the hallways. "Come on, you potato-brains! I'm freezing my ass off! Bath time!"

Ekatrine raised an eyebrow. He hadn't thought Alex had been serious, but apparently he had.

"Come on," Viktor said with a smile. "We promised him, didn't we?"

"You promised him," Ekatrine replied.

Dusan merely chuckled and followed the other boys. It would be an interesting bath, that was for certain.

Ekatrine looked over at the fifth years, who were all starting to sing. "They aren't coming?"

"The bath is for Quidditch Players only. You'll see," Viktor said, steering Ekatrine towards the hallway the others had disappeared down.

Ekatrine opened her mouth, and closed it. She wasn't sure what to say.

"Don't worry," Viktor said. "We're all guys, right?" He smirked at her glower.

When they reached a flat, square door, Viktor waved his wand and it opened, allowing the two into the room beyond. The bathroom was enormous. It had a gigantic, circular bath, and in the middle of it was a fountain.

There were changing stalls around the room and sinks and toilets as well. It was rather clean and had a lovely window that looked out towards the Quidditch Stadium.

The other boys were already in the sudsy bathwater, Alex cradling a glass of vodka and orange juice. "Krummy boy, you and Krys made it! We thought you'd died! Come, join us in our drunken glory!"

Krum smirked as he strode past Ekatrine. He stripped down and entered the tub, Ekatrine pretending to be very interested in one of the stalls to the side of the room.

"Come on, Krys! Don't be shy!" shouted Alex.

She walked over and sat on the edge of the tub, keeping herself well away from Alex. "I don't want to get wet."

"We're all comrades here, Krys," said Yakov. "Come on."

"Yeah," said Anton with a huge smile. "Or we'll have to pull you in fully clothed."

"No, really, I'm fine," Ekatrine said quickly. "I'm not—"

Alex got out of the bathtub, placing his vodka mix on the edge. "You're part of the team, and the team always celebrates getting into the finals by taking a big bath and enjoying the healing properties of vodka."

Ekatrine lowered her eyes quickly. "No, really…please, I'm fine."

He grabbed her by the arm and started to pull her towards the bathtub. Anton and Yakov got out and started helping. Finally there was a loud splash, and Ekatrine found herself completely immersed in the hot water. She surfaced, not having realized how deep the tub actually was.

She came up for air, looking around at the other boys who were all laughing. Alex slid back into the water and grinned. "Now you're in, and you're wet."

"No shit?" asked Anton sarcastically, also returning to the warm, welcoming water.

Yakov was laughing. He threw his head back and swallowed his glass of vodka and smacked his lips. "Good stuff!"

Ekatrine looked over to where Krum was. He was hiding his laughter with his hand, but she could still see the crinkled edges of his eyes.

She swam over to an empty seat and sent a splash of water at Yakov and the others. "Just you wait. I'll get you good next time."

"Yeah, I'm so sure," sniggered Alex. "Not bad for a potato-brain, though."

Dusan handed Ekatrine a glass of vodka and smiled. He lifted his and said softly, though everyone stopped talking and listen immediately, "I suggest a toast to today's game."

"I agree completely," replied Alex, his glass once again full. "Krum, why don't you start us off?"

Krum looked at Ekatrine and said very softly, "To Alexander the Great."

The others just looked at him like he was nuts, but Ekatrine smiled quietly.

"Okay, okay," Anton said. "My turn…" He scrunched his face up, thinking what he wanted to toast to. Finally, he cried, "To comrades and victory!"

Oleg was next and he shouted, "To Quidditch and Quaffels!"

"To broomsticks and bar wenches," called Yakov.

"To _women_!" boomed Alex, and the entire team broke into laughter.

Dusan sniggered softly and said, "To good friends."

Krum looked to Ekatrine. She was the last one to give ode to the toast. Finally, she said quietly, "To love."

Alex lifted his glass and said, "Amen to that." He and the others shot their heads back and drank their glassfuls in one gulp.

Ekatrine smiled at the familiar feeling of the smooth liquid sliding down her throat. She leaned her head back and sighed, relaxing into the bubbles.

As the room began to fill with noise, Dusan leaned over and whispered into Krystof's ear, "It's been nearly six hours."

Ekatrine's eyes snapped open. "Thanks." She got out of the bath and went into one of the stalls.

"Oy, Krys, mayb-oy you…you should stop e-eating the crap food they ssshherve!" shouted Alex, half-drunk.

She quickly whispered, "Aramendo." A few seconds later, she came out of the stall, still fully clothed and renewed as a young man.

"God, Krys, you're still in your robes?" hiccupped Anton, squinting at her.

"Take 'em off!" bellowed Alex. "Be a man!"

Krum merely laughed. His nose was slightly red, and he had a bubbly air around him. "Yeah Krys, take 'em off."

Ekatrine shot him a look and he lifted his glass to her.

Even Dusan uttered a laugh. He wasn't nearly as done over as the others, but he still looked to be in a happy state.

Oleg and Yakov were busy filling each other's glasses, spilling vodka into the bath and bursting into laugher over it.

Ekatrine shook her head, a smile on her face. She returned to the warm water, back to sitting beside Dusan. The entire room burst into noise and before long, Alex began signing again.

"No, no," Ekatrine said interrupting him. "You sing of a man dieing on his daughters deathbed. Sing of victory! Sing of warriors and great feats!"

"Isss a good s-s-song," replied Alex with a hiccup.

"But he's right," said Anton. "It's far too…too sad. Come, Krys, give us a song, then. Tell us of our great victory and what it is we are going to do next."

Ekatrine shook her head. "I don't know any songs. I only wish that I did."

Viktor smiled and said, "It matters not. What is good is that we won and are on our way to becoming the champions once again."

"Oy, Vik," said Oleg, "who's that girl you were telling us'bout?"

Krum looked over at his comrade. "What girl?"

"One with…what was it…?" Oleg looked to Alex for help.

"I-I quote…_wavy hair so s-soft and a tend…tender heart of love_," he laughed and tossed another glass of vodka and orange juice down his throat. "She had…lovely breasts…and…what else?"

Yakov laughed and chimed in, "Eyes that could bewitch a Veela."

Krum's face was turning red, but Ekatrine knew very well that this was not from his drink.

"What was her name, Krum?" demanded Alex.

"Yeah, t-tell us, Krummy," hiccupped Anton. "She's…she form…she's from…Varna…yes?"

"Her name's Ekatrine," Krum replied, his eyes lifting shyly under his heavy brows to the changed girl across from him.

Oleg demanded, "Is all that…that stuff true?"

"Have you done'er yet?" asked Alex, laughing.

Dusan glanced at Ekatrine. She was looking into her glass, as though inspecting it for any flaw the clear cup might have.

"Oy, Krys, aren't you curious about Krum's new lover?" Alex asked.

"Hm?"

"You know you wan…wanna know," said Alex, taking a long drink in the middle of his sentence. "She's gotta be pretty, if Krum likes her…"

"Or drunk," laughed Yakov. "I'd like a drunk one meself…"

Ekatrine rolled her eyes and took another swallow of vodka.

"Ask 'em a question, Krys," commanded Alex. "Ask…ask 'em if she's as pretty as a Veela."

Ekatrine hadn't even opened her mouth when Krum replied coolly, "Prettier."

"I want to meet this girl!" shouted Oleg. "I want to know her! I want to know her sister!"

The room of boys burst into laughter, but before long, the sky outside began to get dark, and the boys began to depart one at a time. Dusan was the first to leave.

"I am in deep need of sleep," he said to the others, rubbing his eyes, his cheeks very red. "Good night, my comrades."

He left the bath and dawned his robes.

Alex snorted. "Such a spoil sport…" but he too yawned widely. "Say, Krum, how…how's that vodka treating you…?"

Krum smiled and replied, "Obviously better than it's treating you. Go and sleep, my friend."

The burly Beater nodded, rubbing his eyes. "I s'pose I should…Yakov, Anton," he grumbled, "Oleg…staying much longer?"

"Nah, we've got homework to…do if we want to go to V-Varna tomorrow," hiccupped Oleg.

The Beater nodded, "Yrue…I mean true…or something…"

"We want to m-meet you're girl, Krum…tomorrow…first thing…" slurred Yakov, lifting his empty glass towards Krum. "…first thing…"

Krum smirked. "You mean…right after you get over your hang-over?"

"Don…don't get 'em," slurred the boy in reply. "Don't…get…'em…"

He and the other three boys left the bath and headed off to either the library or their bedrooms, whichever they preferred, thought it seemed most likely their rooms, since they were probably too drunk to see straight.

Krum looked over at Ekatrine. "You played well today."

She smiled and replied, "It helps when we're talking to each other."

"Yes, it does," he chuckled. His eyes were focused on hers. He had been drunk a moment ago, but now seemed very sober. "You can change, you know."

"I guess I could."

"The door is locked. No one else will come in."

"The door may be locked, but the windows are open," she replied, sipping her drink.

He laughed and said, "You drink your vodka as a woman."

"I _am_ a woman."

He ducked into the deeper water, disappearing from her sight. Suddenly, Ekatrine felt something rub against her leg and Krum appeared before her. He lifted his wand and said, "_Tranmendo_."

Her robes, heavy as they were soaked with water, only became heavier as her form shrank.

"_Now_ you are a woman," Krum lifted his hand and ran it through her hair. "…I did wonder why I had these feelings for you before…" he said softly. "I always thought I was just…well…" he blushed. "But now I am glad to see why."

Ekatrine placed her hand over his and opened her mouth to speak, but Krum interrupted her with a tender kiss. He was a very gentle kisser, as she had learned the night before. Not too excited, but very relaxed as he pressed his mouth to hers. It was as though kissing her was something he should be used to—like speaking, it came to him naturally.

He pulled away, looking at her carefully. "You should take your robes off."

Ekatrine's face turned bright red. "And you should put yours back on."

"We're in a bath," he replied. "You aren't supposed to be dressed in a bath."

"Yes, well," she cleared her throat and tried to speak, but he stopped her by placing his finger over her lips.

"Shhh."

"Krum, please."

"I told you, we're on a _first-name basis_," he said, gently rubbing his finger over her red lips.

"Yes, and I told you—"

"Absolutely nothing," he replied with a lazy grin.

She cocked her head to the side and said, "You're drunk."

"So are you," he replied, touching her nose. "Let's be drunk together…just the two of us…"

Ekatrine laughed nervously. "Like we were drunk when we were screaming at each other yesterday?"

"No. Like we were drunk when we were kissing each other last night," he replied. He moved forward and sat against her, gently rubbing his hand over her thigh. She shifted under him and he smiled.

"Karkaroff's going to find out—"

"_Headmaster_ Karkaroff."

"I thought we were on a first-name basis?"

Viktor kissed her shoulder, moving her soaked robe aside, his other hand still on her thigh. "We are…but the Headmaster isn't here, so he is excluded…besides, Karkaroff is his last name." He went back to tenderly kissing her shoulder and neck, sucking gently at her white skin.

Ekatrine sighed and let Viktor cradle her head. "We did good today…"

"Mmhm…"

"Do you think we'll win the Quidditch Cup?"

Viktor gently lifted his lips to her ear and said, "No more Quidditch talk." He went back to kissing her neck.

"I was just asking."

Viktor reached around her, pulling a glass of clear liquid out. "Drink," he said, handing it to her.

She looked at him sidelong and said, "I've drunk plenty."

"Drink more," he smiled. "It's good for you…makes you strong and healthy."

Ekatrine laughed. "Then with the amount we've drunk this afternoon, we must be the strongest and most healthy people alive."

Viktor pressed the edge of the glass to her lips, and she finally accepted it, taking a long gulp. He pushed the bottom of the glass up, watching her head tilt back and the smooth liquid roll out of the bottom.

"Good girl."

"Now you," Ekatrine said, refilling the glass with more of the drink. "Be a good boy, _menya Viktor_."

Viktor held the glass to his lips and drank as well, watching the girl in front of him as he did. Finally, he set the glass down and gave another lazy smile. He asked softly, "Will you undress now?"

She gently pushed him off of her and swam out into deeper water.

Viktor turned and watched, sitting on the shelf. Ekatrine rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling.

When she didn't reply, Viktor swam out beside her. He stood and looked down into her face. "Ready?"

"For what?"

He just smiled, and she rolled her eyes, sitting up.

"Viktor, don't you think we're moving a little…fast?" she asked, sinking herself into the water until it reached her nose.

He sank down before her and gently rubbed his hands through her hair. "Why would we be moving too fast?"

"You and Hermoine…" she began slowly. "I mean…you just broke—"

Here he pressed his finger to her mouth. "Hermoine and I are not an issue any more. It's you I want to be with."

Ekatrine raised an eyebrow. "You sound as though you killed her."

He laughed, slowly moving towards her.

Ekatrine began to back away, feeling that Viktor was a little too close. She didn't mind him being so close—it was more or less the fact that he was naked. A few seconds later, however, she was pressed up against the fountain.

"Viktor, we really shouldn't…"

He sighed, kissing the side of her face. "Should, should not…what's the difference anymore?"

"You're drunk," she pointed out again, trying to move away from him by sliding around the fountain.

He held his arms in her path, blocking her on both sides. "Like I said…let's be drunk together…" Viktor leaned forward, pushing his mouth to hers, his flatter body pressing against her curvy one. He let his tongue slide into her mouth.

Ekatrine felt his hands run through her hair and down her arms and back. She liked the feeling of him against her, the taste of warm love and vodka in his mouth. He was a comfortable drunk, and she liked it very much.

The girl looped her arms around Viktor's neck, relaxing into his form. She let her own tongue rub against his, the feelings that swelled in her chest becoming an intoxicating persuader.

Viktor tenderly moved to her jaw, letting his lips run against it. He felt her hand slide behind his head, tenderly pulling him closer. He moved down the back of her jaw and to her neck, his lips sucking against her skin.

"Viktor…" she whispered softly. "Viktor, we…shouldn't…"

He ignored her and continued down, kissing the crook between her neck and shoulder, letting his mouth linger over her collarbone.

She rubbed her hands against his ears, trying to convince herself that they wouldn't be caught. Ekatrine really liked the feelings flowing through her, but wasn't sure how much she could take before losing control.

Ekatrine felt his hand slide up under her robes, gently moving the wet fabric aside as he rubbed her flat stomach. His mouth was moving lower, kissing the heavy fabric of her robes away, his other hand exploring her shoulders and arms.

A few moments later, Krum pulled away, looking at the girl before him. She was bathed in the flickering light of the torches, her brown eyes glowing in the orange light. Her wet hair hung around her face and draped against her shoulders.

He smiled at her and said softly, "_Obicham te_."

She pushed her hair from her face and looked at him with a lazy smile. "Mmm…_ya lyubov vas_."

Viktor swam over to her again and wrapped his arms around her narrow shoulders. "That was Russian?"

"_Da_," she said with a fleeting smile. "_Ya lyubov vas_ is 'I love you.'"

"You'll have to teach me," he decided.

"I need to learn Bulgarian."

"You've been speaking it since you got here."

"It is a spell," she replied softly. "Fudge cast it on me so that I could read, write, and speak like you. That way I am inconspicuous."

He smiled, "So you know _obicham te_?"

She nodded, and rested her head against his shoulder. "_Da_, I know _obicham te_."

"Dusan always told me your accent was more Russia," he said after a moment. "He thought the way you pronounced our words was very odd."

"He has a good ear."

Viktor paused before asking, "Who was it that you were speaking to last week? In your room after our talk about Hermoine's letter?"

"The ghost Serge," she replied. "He calls me _Russia_ because of my accent…kept telling me you would find out my secret."

"_Our_ secret," corrected Viktor, but he looked to be in deep thought.

"What is it?"

"Serge is well-known for keeping to himself. I wonder what it is about you that made him speak with you…" he pondered. "How long have you spoken with him?"

"Since I got here," she replied. "He came into my room the first day and saw me as a girl…said it was very odd that a woman should be attending a boy's school."

Krum nodded, still holding her close to him. "And that it is. You are the first girl to have been admitted to Durmstrang."

"They say You-Know-Who will come after me if I'm not careful," she replied. "The Minister forced me here…I did not want to come."

"I'm glad you did," replied Krum softly.

She didn't reply. The entire reason she was at Durmstrang seemed like a bad dream now. Her parents…the accident…even her heavy disliking Karkaroff seemed to be part of that dream.

"So," Krum said finally, "we have one more game…in a month, we play Grifithmine for the Quidditch Cup."

Ekatrine laughed softly. "I thought we were done speaking of Quidditch?"

"We are."

She closed her eyes and relaxed against the Bulgarian boy. For the first time in a long while, she felt completely at peace. Within the walls of Durmstrang and behind the identity of Krystof Uriov, she felt safer than she had anytime before.


	4. PART FOUR: VALJA SOKOLOVA KRUM

**PART FOUR:**

**VALJA SOKOLOVA KRUM**

Ekatrine and Viktor Krum sat in the library. Christmas was soon to come, and Viktor had invited Ekatrine to spend the time with him and his mother. Ekatrine had accepted, and even Karkaroff didn't seem to mind. As far as he knew, Krum still thought Ekatrine was a guy.

"The final game will happen after Christmas," he sighed, looking out the window at the heavy snowflakes.

She was scratching away on a History of War paper for Vasska. So far, Krystof was the only student anyone remembered the Professor favoring. He liked the fact that Krystof was gutsy and never hesitated to ask a question, no matter how dumb it sounded.

"We've been practicing very hard," she said slowly, trying to concentrate on the turns of her quill. Viktor had insisted that she learn Bulgarian on her own, and the spell only be used during lessons. Even though the Russian alphabet was very similar to the Bulgarian one, she was still having troubles adjusting.

He leaned over, trying to read what she had written. "I don't understand…when did Ivan the Great die? Why?"

"Ivan the _Terrible_," she replied. "And if you don't understand it, you should read your book."

"I don't have time," he insisted. "And besides, you used the wrong word…that's Ivan the _Great_. This is Ivan the Terrible."

"If I have time, so do you," she said, fixing the mistake.

Krum grunted, "I don't understand why we're doing Russian Muggle history, anyways…this doesn't even have anything to do with us!"

"Ivan the Terrible wasn't a Muggle," she replied. "You would know that if you had read the chapter."

He rolled his eyes at her and sighed, once again looking out the window and into the storm. "What does it matter? Today is our last day of lessons for the term. Besides, I don't think Professor Vasska would mind if I didn't turn in the essay…"

"He would mind, trust me."

"If you didn't turn in yours, he'd be upset at the rest of us for actually doing it," Krum replied, thinking. "Why not give me your essay?" He grinned.

She kicked him under the table and he snickered.

"I was just saying…"

"Vik!"

"_Shhh_!" snapped the librarian as Alex hurried across the room and to the two boys.

"What, Alex?" Viktor asked softly.

Alex flopped down into a chair and said, "This just came for you. It's from Hermoine!"

Viktor's eyebrows shot up, and he slowly accepted the roll of parchment from his friend, who in turn, tried to read the letter over Viktor's shoulder.

Ekatrine waited patiently as her friend read the note.

"She says she's going to come visit me," Viktor said slowly. He lifted his eyes to Ekatrine, who carefully kept her face emotionless. "She wants to spend her Holiday with me."

"Awe, Vik," Alex said with a half-grin. "That's so sweet."

"I already promised Ekatrine she could spend her Holiday with me, though," he said, emphasizing the English word.

Here, Alex's face grew even brighter. "Do 'em both!"

Ekatrine kicked him in the shin.

"OUCH!"

"_SHHHH_!"

"Sorry," Ekatrine said. "Slipped."

"Slipped my a—"

"Shut up, potato-brain," hissed Viktor, glancing over at the librarian, who was now scowling at them, his wand raised. "Or you'll get us into trouble!"

Alex was rubbing his shin, his eyes narrowed. "Krys started it."

"I told you," she replied coolly, "I slipped."

"Whatever," grumbled the other Beater. He turned to Krum and asked, "So, are you going to tell her she can come?"

"I…don't know," admitted Viktor. "I mean, I did invite her up last summer…but she never came…"

"You should," said Krystof. "I want to meet her."

"Yeah," said Alex. "I remember her…she was…interesting. Hey, Krum, when are you going to introduce us to Ekatrine, anyhow?"

Krum's face turned red. "I thought you were too drunk to remember," he admitted.

"Nah," replied Alex, winking at Krystof. "Never too drunk to forget. So when do we get to see this so-called better-looking-than-a-Veela girl?"

"How about today, Krum?"

"Today?" Krum asked, staring at Ekatrine like she was mad.

"Yeah!" said Alex, sounding excited. "Right after classes!"

"_Will you three be quiet_!" whispered the librarian, his wand sending a zap of sparks in their direction.

"Sorry," whispered Ekatrine in return. She turned back to Krum and said very softly, "Yeah, today. Down in Varna. We can Disapperate there and back."

Krum looked at her very carefully, as though waiting to see if she was pulling a huge prank on him. "You don't know how to Disapperate."

"It's okay. One of you guys can take me along for the ride," she grinned.

"Alright," Alex replied, his voiced forced into a hush. "After classes. See you then." He stood up and left, the librarian smacking his wand against the palm of his other hand, his eyes narrowed at the burly boy.

Krum turned onto Krystof. "Are you mad?"

"Yeah, sort of," she replied with a grin.

"Krys," he said, forcing the name out instead of her real one, "you can't be…" he lowered his voice until she could barely hear it, "…you can't be in two places in one time!"

She shrugged, leaning back and stretching her arms. "I don't intend to be there as…well…this." She motioned at herself as a man. "I intend to feign sick, and then show up as me."

Even then Krum didn't look too pleased. "Did you ever consider that someone might be waiting for you to show up in Varna so they can tell You-Know-Who where you're at?"

"I'll wear a disguise," she replied with a light shrug. "No big."

"No big?" Krum asked, disbelieving. "_No big_? Ekat—Krystof, you can't _do_ that!"

"Why not? Look, Krum, everything will be fine. I promise."

Krum shook his head. "No. I won't risk it. We can tell him the weather's too bad."

"But Krum, if the weather's too bad, then it's too bad for any…you know…to be around. They wouldn't travel this far, even bother to Apperate, this far from—"

"_No_," Krum replied coldly. "And that's final."

Looking annoyed, Ekatrine lifted her wand, whispered, "_Languino_," and pulled her quill up from the table. She hunched over and continued to work.

Krum sighed and rubbed his temples. He knew Ekatrine was stubborn—very stubborn—but he was not going to let her risk her life just to show off and be a girl around Alex and the others.

After a few moments, Ekatrine stood up. "Ready?"

Krum raised an eyebrow, but stood up as well. He and Krystof walked down the hallway. They had become well known throughout the institute as best friends—one was never without the other.

"Mr. Krum," a younger classman said, nervously approaching the two boys. He shifted his eyes to Ekatrine and said with a shaky voice, "Mr. U-Uriov…I…" he swallowed. Ekatrine saw by the mark on his robes that he was from Mumblewarts. "IwaswonderingifIcouldhaveanautographfrombothofyou." After he had stopped speaking, both Krum and Krystof exchanged looks.

"Could…could you repeat that a bit slower?" Ekatrine asked.

The boy took in a deep breath, obviously a second year. "I-was-wondering-if-I-could-have-an-autograph-from-both-of-you."

Krum was already pulling out parchment and a quill, but Ekatrine couldn't help but ask, "Why from me, too?"

"Because…you're Krum and Uriov. Not just Krum, not just Uriov, but _Krum and Uriov_. You two are the best!" he said quickly.

"What's your name?" Krum asked.

The boy stuttered it so quickly that Krum had to ask again. This time, he said it much slower, pronouncing it very carefully, "Casimir. Casimir Ivanov."

Krum wrote out a To Casimir Ivanova from Viktor Krum and handed the parchment to Ekatrine. He smirked, watching as she wrote out, and Krystof Uriov.

She then handed it back to the second year, who took it with shaking hands. His eyes were wide as he read the still glittering ink. He then said a quick, "_Thankyou_!" and disappeared down the hallway.

Ekatrine and Krum headed off once again for their lesson with Vasska. "Do they ask you a lot?"

"No," Krum replied, mulling something over in his mind. "But he is right."

"About what?"

"I'm not just Viktor Krum anymore. When the boys here see me, they expect to see you, too," he smiled. "I've become a Viktorn'Krystof, or Krumn'Uriov. So have you."

Ekatrine considered this as well. Finally she admitted, "Cool."

Krum nodded and then said, "The Quidditch World Cup agents are looking for a few new players this year for the Vratsa Vultures…maybe you could try out for Beater."

She couldn't help but laugh. "Now I know you're insane. I'm not going to try out for a National Quidditch Team!"

"Why not? You're a good player. You could make the team, and we could practice more together…" he smiled and added, "Besides, it's not like my idea's any more insane than yours."

"What are you talking about?"

"The whole _Oh, yes Viktor! Do introduce us to your Ekatrine!_ deal," he replied with a scowl.

She laughed. "Oh, that. Well, I figure if I'm going to meet Hermoine, at least I should see what the guys think of me compared to her."

"Wait a minute," Viktor said, stopping, "you're _jealous_!"

Ekatrine rolled her eyes. "I don't _get_ jealous, Krum."

He was grinning.

Ekatrine glowered at him, though she couldn't help but like the smile on his face. "Stop it."

"I don't believe it!" he said. "Krystof Uriov, _jealous_? It just cannot be!"

A few sixth year Seantinn students glanced back at them as they walked down the hallway. They were murmuring amongst themselves, wondering what Krum and Uriov were arguing about.

"I'm _not_ jealous!" she snapped. "Look, we'd better get going or Vasska will have both our hides."

Viktor continued to chuckle as they walked down the hallway and into Professor Vasska's history class.

The rest of the seventh years in their class took their seats, all of the Quidditch Players from Wrathoth surrounding Krum and Uriov.

Vasska waved his wand and their essays piled up on his desk. Some, like Ekatrine's, were neatly rolled and tied, whereas others (like Alex's) were crinkled and left unrolled.

He waved his wand again and a number appeared over the pile. "_Ten_. Astounding, you all did your homework."

Krum smirked. He had finished his essay at the last minute, and by the looks on everyone else's faces, so had they. Krum guessed that Ekatrine was the only one who had actually started her essay the week before, when it had been assigned.

Vasska glided around the desk, his dark eyes looking the room over. Finally he said softly, "I suppose this means you're expecting some kind of reward…or me to go easy on you, since it's your last day of term…"

"No, sir," the entire class boomed.

"Very well," he said blandly, "if that is what you want, get to work. I want five essays done on five different Muggle-Wizard Wars, and you must not have done them before. Each essay must be at least three feet in length. Text is to be no larger than half an inch. The essays will be due first day of next term. Begin."

No one complained—how could they? They had a three-week vacation coming their way in only a matter of hours. There was a lot of quill scratching, but when Krum looked around the room, he noticed that most of the boys were busy writing things other than the essays.

Krum looked over to Ekatrine. She had her book open and was scribbling away. He saw that she already had all five of her wars chosen, and was nearly done with the first paragraph of the first essay.

He smiled and fell back into his own work, writing the essay whenever Vasska was close enough to read it, but working on something more important when he was further away.

Finally the end of the day greeted the group of boys. The next morning people would be leaving for their homes and Durmstrang would be closed for the holiday's. Unlike Hogwarts, there simply were not enough students to keep the castle open for the break.

"YES!" crowed Alex as the Quidditch Players exited the school into the blustery cold. Snow was falling heavily against the cold earth below, leaving behind a huge blanket. "We are FREE!"

Ekatrine allowed a laugh and watched as Anton, Yakov, and Oleg all nodded to each other and race towards the Beater. They jumped on top of him, plowing the burly boy into the snow.

They rolled around; screaming and shouting, snow being flung everywhere.

Finally, Alex managed to hoist the three boys into the air and off of himself. "Oy, Krum! Let's go to Varna now! I want to meet this girl of yours!"

"I still want to know her sister!" shouted Oleg through a mouthful of snow.

Yakov and Anton both sat up, laughing and making cat-calls to Oleg.

"She's gone to visit family in Czech," replied Krum quickly. "Just got the owl."

Ekatrine gawked at him. She shoved him hard, and he fell into the snow.

Krum rolled onto his back and asked, "What was that for?"

"_Lying_," she hissed, and turning, she stormed back into the castle.

Dusan, who had been hoping to throw a snowball at the other boys, instead dropped it. He watched as Krum raced after the girl-changed-boy.

"Those two might be closer than Quaffle and Keeper, but they sure as hell fight a lot," mused Oleg.

Anton nodded. "Oh well. Don't let them be spoiler's…potato-brains…" he collapsed back into the snow.

Yakov pelted Anton with snowballs, Oleg joining them, and before long, they teamed up again against Alex.

Dusan, on the other hand, glided back into the castle, his eyes strangely focused.

"What's that potato-brain doing?" asked Yakov as he tried to pull Alex into the snow.

"I don't know," replied Oleg with a shrug. "But who cares?"

"Probably going to see if Krum and Uriov are fighting," stated Anton.

Alex gave a strangled cry, and hurled Anton over his back and into the snow. Oleg soon followed, and the bigger boy crowed, "Can't beat a Beater!"

The other boys jumped back to their feet and attacked him again.

"Krys, wait!" Krum shouted. He saw Krystof at the end of the hallway, his wand already out and aimed at the Wrathoth door.

He murmured the new spell, and the door swung open. It closed before Krum reached it, and he whipped out his own wand, the door swinging open again after he had said the spell.

The Common Room was empty. Everyone was outside, in Varna, or in the main hall, enjoying good company and good food.

Krum watched as Ekatrine disappeared down the hallway to his—_her_—room. "Ekatrine, wait, please…let me explain!" he jogged after her, catching her as she turned to shut her door on him.

He shoved his booted foot into between door and jam before she could close it entirely. He pushed hard against the door, and it swung open.

The spell was wearing off and Krystof melted away into Ekatrine. "Leave me alone!"

"I can't," Viktor said softly. "Now please, I'm sorry."

"You were on my case about lying, and here you turn around and lie about me being off to visit _my family_?" she raged.

He pushed the door shut behind him and approached her. Gently he placed his hand on her face. "Ekatrine, I'm sorry. I just…I couldn't risk it…_you_…I know how much you want to talk to them as a girl, but…it's not worth dieing over."

"Viktor, you just…you don't _get it_, do you?" she asked, looking up at him, her eyes filled with frustrated tears.

"What, Ekatrine? What don't I get?"

For a long moment, she didn't reply. Then finally, "I haven't seen the outside world for so long, Viktor. I've been stuck in my house…in a hospital…in this place…and now I'm just trying to remember what it's like out there. I can't remember seeing anything but the snowy ground and the trees around Durmstrang."

"Oh, Ekat…" whispered Krum, pulling her into his arms. "I know it's hard…it has to be…but you'll be out of here soon…three weeks of bliss…with me and my Mamo…just us…"

She thought sadly as she hugged him back, _And Hermoine…_

The next morning the main hall was filled with the boys of Durmstrang. The younger classmen were being led outside to the dock where the ship awaited them. They were too young to Disapperate and Apperate, and so they would be going home by ship.

Ekatrine stood beside Krum and the other Durmstrang Quidditch players. They were talking excitedly, and Alex said, "You boys' had better have gotten me something good!"

"Yeah, I got your gift right here," said Anton, punching the boy in the arm. He laughed when Alex pretended to be hurt, but shouted and ran when the burly Beater ran after him.

"Krys and I are gonna head off," Viktor said. "My mother's expecting us for dinner."

"Hey, Krys, don't you have—"

Oleg stepped on Yakov's foot and the other boy kicked him back.

"Have a good Christmas," Dusan said very softly, placing his hand tentatively on Ekatrine's shoulder. He pulled it off nearly as quickly, uncertain. "I will see you when term starts." Then he turned and disappeared with a loud _bang_!

Other boys around the room were doing the same, bags over their shoulders and grins on their faces.

"Yeah, see you," Krum said, and he grabbed Ekatrine's hand, the two of them also disappearing.

"Come on, you lovers!" shouted Oleg to Alex and Anton. "Time to go!"

The two other team members raced over and the four boys clasped hands and giving a loud shout, Disapperated. Christmas was far off, but it seemed to have already begun.

Ekatrine held tight to Krum, her body trembling at the tight feeling around her. She felt her breath escaping her, her nose and chest tight.

Finally, the pressure was released and the two of them stumbled into another part of the world. It was snowing very hard, but Ekatrine could just make out the light of two flickering lanterns.

Viktor raced towards the door, shouting at his comrade, "Come on!"

The door burst open before he and Ekatrine, and they entered a very warm home. There was a warm fire lit in the fireplace, and around it sat a number of comfortable chairs and couches.

"Mamo," Krum called into the home, and a voice came back, "Viktor? Is that you?"

A woman entered the room, her black hair pulled back into a tight bun. A few strands fell out around her ears. She was dressed in a simple gown, an apron tied about her waist and chest. She most certainly looked like a Beater.

"Who is this?" she asked, her eyes falling on the smaller boy beside her lanky son.

"Krystof Uriov, Mamo," replied Viktor. "I wrote you that he would stay with us for break."

She nodded, a smile spreading across her sharp features. She was, like Viktor, much more lovely when she smiled. "Yes, the Beater. Are you any good?"

Ekatrine shrugged at the question, and Viktor only smiled. "He is very good."

"I will have to see," she replied. "Well, take him upstairs, Viktor. He may share your room." She left the comfortable room, returning to the kitchen. Her voice carried back from the next room as she remembered something, "Viktor, an owl arrived for you this afternoon. You will read it, yes? It is from the Granger girl."

Viktor paused in his step, but replied, "Thanks, Mamo." He continued up the stairs, Ekatrine in his wake. She took in a long breath, his scent floating back to her. The entire house smelled of him and his mother—a lovely smell, she thought.

They approached a hallway of doors and Viktor stopped at one. "This is my room." He opened the door and motioned around the dim room. Flipping on a light, Ekatrine saw that it had already been prepared for her arrival, a small camp bed placed across the room from Viktor's own. The room was still very dimly lit, even with the light "Place your belongings where you like."

"Your mother thinks I am a boy," she said, gently placing her bag on the spare bed. She could smell Viktor throughout the room, enjoying the scent very much. "It might not be best that we share a room."

"She can think what she wants," smiled Viktor, placing his own bag down. "Come, we will read Hermoine's letter together."

Ekatrine paused, uncertain. "Viktor, that might be…well…personal."

"She knows Mamo reads my letters," replied Viktor calmly. "If she wrote me something personal, Mamo would know and have said something."

"She might not have," replied Ekatrine, "considering I was in the room."

Viktor laughed. "Mamo dislikes Hermoine. She finds her a rude English girl, and she has never before even met her. She cares not who hears what she has to say."

Ekatrine was glad the room was dim, because her face flushed. She, also, had never met Hermoine, but felt the same way about the girl. Deep down inside, she knew she was very jealous of the English girl.

Viktor strode over to her and touched her face. He leaned in and said, "The spell…it is wearing off. When did you cast it?"

"This morning, when I was packing."

"What time?"

"Three."

"It is nine at Durmstrang," replied Viktor. He kissed her on the forehead. "Perhaps you can wait here while I go and get the letter. Mamo will not mind."

Before Ekatrine could reply, Viktor had left the room, closing the door behind him. She closed her eyes and relaxed onto the bed. She opened her eyes, looking to the raftered ceiling. Hung around the room were posters of Viktor's National Quidditch Team. He had many framed photographs of himself and his teammates. Not only the ones from the Vratsa Vultures, but also pictures of Krum's Quidditch Teams from Durmstrang. It looked to Ekatrine as though he had been on the team since his first year.

A few moments later, Viktor reentered the room, holding a rolled piece of parchment. He closed the door behind him and unrolled it. Sitting down beside Ekatrine, he tapped it with his wand and began to read it.

"She says she will be here tomorrow," he said. "I have told her of you…she says she cannot wait to meet you."

Ekatrine leaned against Viktor's arm; her legs sprawled out on the bed lazily.

He looked down at her and asked, "Will you be jealous?"

She laughed and said, "I don't get jealous, Viktor. We've been over this."

"And from what I remember, we had decided that you are jealous."

"How could I possibly be jealous? I've never met her," replied Ekatrine. "Besides…I know you love me."

Krum stole a quick kiss and went back to reading the lengthy letter the English girl had written him.

"Anything interesting?"

"Not much…she seems to enjoy telling me about her friend Ron, though," replied Viktor.

Ekatrine relaxed a bit. If Hermoine was talking about another boy, there was a chance that she didn't have any feelings for Viktor. At least, no feelings that resembled Ekatrine's.

Viktor finished reading the letter and rolled it up. He directed the letter in the direction of a pile that was on the other side of the room.

"Are all of those letters from Hermoine?" Ekatrine asked, her eyes lingering on the pile.

"No, not all of them," he said with a smile. The Seeker collapsed backwards, lying across the bed. Ekatrine's head collapsed against his stomach. She frowned at him and said, "You could have warned me."

Krum pretended to think about it, but replied, "Nah."

Ekatrine rested her head against his chest. She closed her eyes, feeling Viktor's hand rubbing gently against her head, his fingers tangling in her hair. "Are you going to tell your mother?"

"No," Viktor replied. "Not yet…not until you're out of danger."

"Which will be when he is dead, and his Death Eaters are gone," she hissed, her eyes growing cloudy.

Viktor knew her pain—it seemed that Lord Voldemort was never going to die. He had been thought dead for so long, but was now alive once again. People like Ekatrine's parents and friend would be dieing left and right. It seemed there was no way to kill him.

Krum rubbed his hand against her cheek, feeling a tear roll against his thumb. He sat up and looked down at her. "Do not cry, my little one…"

She rubbed her eyes and replied softly, "I'm not."

"Of course," he replied softly, pressing his lips to her forehead. "Of course not…"

"Viktor," came the voice of Valja Sokolova Krum drifted up the stairs and into his room, "it is time for dinner. Come, bring your friend."

He rubbed Ekatrine's tears away and replied, "Yes, Mamo." He turn turned back to the girl on his lap and said, "Let us go. Mamo's food fixes all."

Ekatrine laughed, rubbing the salt from her face, "I thought vodka fixed all?"

"No," he smiled, "love and Mamo's cooking fixes all. Vodka makes you strong and healthy. Let's eat."

Ekatrine lifted off of the bed and pulled her wand out. She murmured, "Aramendo." He form shifted again and she was once again in the body of Krystof Uriov.

"I don't think I will ever get used to that," said Krum shaking his head.

She shrugged and rubbed her short hair. "Hopefully it won't have to last long."

The two of them left Viktor's room. Ekatrine followed him down the stairs and into the kitchen. Valja was serving the food onto platters, placing three of them on a round, wooden table.

Ekatrine wondered where Viktor's father was, but decided it was best not to ask. She sat after Madame Krum and Viktor had taken their seats.

"It will be good to have another woman in the house," said Madame Krum as she ate her dinner. "Even if it is the Granger girl."

"You will like her very much, Mamo," Krum replied, also eating.

Ekatrine merely sat in silence, enjoying the Bulgarian dish. It was absolutely delicious, and she tried not to eat it quickly.

"So," Madame Krum had turned her gaze onto Ekatrine and she felt her spine tingle, "you are a Beater? You look Chaser…perhaps I could see you as Beater, though." She chewed her food very thoughtfully. "Viktor has told me you have helped win two Quidditch matches, and you are now onto finals."

She nodded.

"Very good," replied the older woman, a soft smile spreading on her face. "He also tells me you are to join him in trying out for the Vultures."

Ekatrine glanced at Viktor, but he just smiled back at her. She looked back to Madame Krum and replied, "Yes, Ma'am."

"Call me Mamo," replied the woman. "Or, if you must, Mamo Krum. Tell me, you are Uriov, yes?"—Ekatrine nodded—"Are you related to the poor boy who died?"

Ekatrine swallowed and replied softly, "We were very close friends."

"Sad, sad," murmured the woman, her expression becoming one of great sadness. "I am so sorry for your loss."

"Thank you."

There was a moment of silence, and then Mamo Krum said, "I want to play you, see if you are as good as my son claims. How is tomorrow? Too soon, yes? Too soon," she decided. "The next day, then. When you are ready."

Viktor smiled at Ekatrine's expression. She had been ready to accept the challenge, but his mother had changed her mind too fast for the girl-changed-boy to say anything.

"If only you were a woman," sighed Madame Krum suddenly. She was stirring her food thoughtfully, off in her own world.

Ekatrine felt Krum's hand gently brush against hers, and she blushed a bit. She wasn't exactly sure how Krum felt about her when she was a boy, but it seemed he felt the same, no matter what gender she was.

"Viktor, when is the English girl coming by?"

"Tomorrow," replied Krum, though he seemed rather distracted.

Madame Krum nodded and asked, "Are you desiring her, still?"

Ekatrine felt very uncomfortable with the question, feeling a bit jealous of the English girl once again taking the light from her.

"No, Mamo," replied Viktor solemnly.

"Then there is another!" gasped Mamo Krum, relief evident on her face. "Who is she? From Varna, no doubt. Tell me, my son, her name!"

Viktor chewed a potato thoughtfully before finally answering, "Ekatrine."

"Russia!" gasped Madame Krum. "She is _Russia_?"

Viktor nodded. "Yes, Mamo."

"Is she from a good family? Full-blood, then? Must be…_Russia_…hard to come across wizards there," she decided. "Yes, a full-blood, of a good type, no doubt…I have met a decent family from there. Brilliant player, that Logachov."

Ekatrine's fork dropped, her jaw open. She stared at Madame Krum blankly. "You…you mean they played Quidditch?"

"Of course!" huffed Mamo Krum. "Best player on their team, that one!"

"Which one?"

Madame Krum took another bite of food, looking at Krystof very intensely. Her gaze reminded Ekatrine of Vasska's gaze. Finally, she asked, "Why so interested?"

"I-I knew some Logachov's," replied Ekatrine quickly. "I had heard…but I never knew…which one played."

"She was brilliant, that one," said Mamo Krum slowly. "Stopped suddenly, though…left her team in the middle of our match. Yes, I was there. I saw her fly off on her broomstick."

"What was her name?" Ekatrine asked, trying not to sound too desperate.

"Olga," replied Mamo Krum. "Olga Logachov. She had just married the year before. Husband was a bit odd, don't you think, Viktor? Of course you do. After she left, we were given the game. They couldn't play after she left."

Ekatrine felt her heartbeat quicken. Her mother had never told her she had played Quidditch! She had kept that from her, along with her previous position as a Death-Eater. Ekatrine began to wonder if she had ever really known her parents. "What position?"

"Beater," replied Mamo Krum with a soft smile. "Best Beater I've ever played. Both played pregnant…" She seemed to have drifted off into another world. "Very good player, that one…too bad…too bad…"

Ekatrine couldn't eat. She wondered if Mamo Krum knew what had happened to her parents, or if their deaths' had even reached this far.

"You knew them, then," said Madame Krum softly, "and so you will have known that they died. Daughter was the only survivor. I wish I knew where she was…she should know how good her mother really was…but this cannot be. She is probably tied up, someplace in the Ministry…" Mamo Krum was looking at Ekatrine carefully, studying the sharp features of the boy before her. "You certain you are a Uriov? You look more Logachov to me. Same eyes…mother's eyes, father's hair. You look as they did, that last game…"

"Mamo," Krum murmured. "Krystof was very close to them…he knew them, his family knew them…"

"Did you know their daughter?"

She nodded, begging herself not to break out into tears before Viktor's mother.

"She is unharmed, then?"

"Yes," whispered Ekatrine. "She's fine."

"Does the Ministry have her? Of course, they must," murmured Madame Krum. "They must…she's sixteen now, is she not?"

"Seventeen."

"_Seventeen_?" gasped the woman. "If I knew where she was, why Viktor…she is of marrying age!"

"Mamo…"

"We could protect her," muttered the woman. "They should send her to me. Even the Dark Lord will not bother me!"

"_Mamo_…"

"She is of good blood, that one," said Mamo Krum, ignoring her son. "Pureblood. Father was a good wizard…mother was good, too…Viktor, where did her father go?"

Viktor paused before whispering, "Durmstrang…"

Ekatrine's eyes grew wider.

"Mother went to Blatbang," added Madame Krum. "Arranged, I think…their marriage. They were so in love…"

Ekatrine began to wonder if Madame Krum had known her parents better than she was letting on.

"Well, we cannot tread in the past forever," said Mamo Krum finally, sadly. "Krystof, you are a lucky lad, to have known such greatness as them. The Potter's, why, had they not been killed by the Dark Lord, they would never have measured up to them!"

Ekatrine could feel Viktor's hand on her own, holding it tightly, rubbing his thumb over the back of it. "Mamo, I think…"

"Yes, yes," replied the woman with a wave of her hand. "Now, Krystof, it is still early. You and Viktor go on out back…Viktor, show him the orchard, the wood, the garden…show him everything. He will like it here." She turned to him, hardly noticing that the boy had not finished his dinner. "I must meet your parents. We will have a great dinner…they play Quidditch, too? Of course they do. Must. Now go. I will clean up."

She stood and with a wave of her wand, the dishes floated over to the sink. She gave another wave and they began to wash themselves.

Viktor took Ekatrine from the room, the two dawning their coats in silence. Viktor then led her out the back door and into the snowy weather. He walked beside the girl for a long time before saying, "I'm sorry…Mamo doesn't usually…I mean, she thinks Olga was amazing…I didn't realize she was going to…"

"It's fine," she murmured. "I just never realized that she was a Quidditch Player. I mean…she never even told me. She…" Ekatrine wiped her eyes. "…She and papa tried to be Muggle, I guess. They never said anything about magic or anything. They even took my _Harry Potter_ books."

Viktor didn't reply for a long time. When they reached the orchard, he motioned to a bench, and with a wave of his wand, the bench was clear of snow. He was seventeen, and legally able to use magic outside of Durmstrang.

Ekatrine walked over to the bench and sat upon it, her eyes scanning the small clearing in the orchard. "Is it safe?"

He nodded, sitting beside her. "Mamo cast a spell here when we first moved. No one can come on her property without her knowing."

"They can see, though."

"Yes," he said sadly, looking out into the trees that surrounded them. "They can see."

She leaned her head against his shoulder, trying to think, trying to keep all of the information she had heard within her mind. She wanted to know more about her parents as wizards, not as the scared Muggles she had grown up with.

"It will be okay, Ekat," he said softly into her ear. "It will be okay…you'll see…"

She pressed her face deeper still against his shoulder, wishing she could believe him. With the wish came another feeling—a deep feeling of anger. She was angry with her parents for never telling her who they were, and now she was trapped in this mess. "He will kill me," she said suddenly, her voice very low.

"Who?"

"…Him. He will kill me, if the Death-Eaters killed my parents…if they killed Ilya," she whispered. "They will kill me…"

"No," replied Viktor. "I won't let them."

She didn't reply. It didn't matter what Viktor said to try and comfort her—she could feel it in her heart. No one stayed hidden from the Dark Lord for very long, no one.

The next morning there came a knock on Viktor's bedroom door. "She is here, Viktor."

Ekatrine opened her eyes, seeing the stitch of the blanket over her head.

"Hm? Oh…thank you, Mamo," replied Viktor's groggy voice from across the room. The door closed, and Ekatrine heard Viktor climb out of his bed. She listened as he footsteps drew nearer. "Ekat…" he murmured, placing his hand on what he thought was her shoulder.

She gasped, her face turning red.

"Sorry," he replied, gently removing his hand and pulling the covers down from over her head. "Hermoine's here."

"I heard."

"Get dressed," he said, removing his own nightshirt and walking over to his dresser. He pulled a clean shirt out from one of the drawers and pulled it on over his head, changing his pants next.

Ekatrine blushed and looked away. She yawned, checking her wristwatch. It was seven o'clock. "She's early…"

"Always is," replied Viktor with a smile. "I mean, for her classes…now change. She will want to meet you." He left the room, carefully closing the door behind himself.

Ekatrine said, "Aramendo."

She stood up and pulled on the clothes Viktor had left out for her. They were a little big for her, but she liked them. Leaving the room after setting her watch, Ekatrine trotted down the steps and into the main room of the house.

"…_so good to see you again, Viktor_!" a girl said, her arms around Viktor. All Ekatrine could see of her was her bushy brown hair and snow-dusted jackets and gloves. She felt jealousy boil up inside of her and clenched her jaw tightly.

"_It is good to be seeing you again, too_," Viktor replied in English. "_You should haff come up last summer_."

"_I know, and I'm sorry I didn't…things have just been so busy_," she replied.

Ekatrine noticed that she spoke very quickly. It was hard to understand her.

Mamo Krum was standing behind her son. When she caught Ekatrine's eyes, she said in Bulgarian, "She seems…nice…"

Ekatrine merely shrugged, her jaw still clenched.

"_Her-moi-ninny, this is my Mamo and this is Krystof. I haff told you of them_," said Viktor, moving aside so that Ekatrine and Hermoine could see each other fully.

Hermoine lifted her hand and said, "_Viktor has written me all about you! It's so good to finally meet the famous Beaters_!"

Mamo Krum pursed her lips and nodded. She said briskly, "_I vill go get tea_."

Hermoine turned her raised hand to Ekatrine, who took it very reluctantly. "_Hello…it is good to be meeting you, as vell_."

The English girl smiled and the door behind her was shut. Viktor motioned at the couches and chairs in the room. "_Please, sit_."

"_Thank you, Viktor_," Hermoine walked over to a chair and sat down, her eyes scanning the room.

Viktor walked by Ekatrine and saw her expression. "Don't worry, she is only here for a week."

She forced a smile and replied, "She can stay as long as you like."

Viktor smiled.

"Krystof, come and help me," called Mamo Krum from the kitchen. Krystof smiled weakly at Hermoine and left the room to help the older Krum.

"_They vill be back vith the tea_," Viktor said, sitting on a chair near Hermoine.

"_I don't think your mother likes me_," Hermoine admitted sadly. "_Or Krystof, for that matter_."

"_They are very used to haffing no company_," replied Viktor half-truthfully.

She nodded, hearing the other two speaking in the kitchen.

"She is very…nice," repeated Mamo Krum slowly as she placed the tea and cakes onto a tray. "What do you think, Krystof?"

He shrugged.

"No opinion, eh? Can't say I don't blame you," she continued. "Viktor says she knows nothing of Quidditch. Bah, a witch who doesn't know Quidditch is no witch!"

"She is half-Muggle," replied Ekatrine. "That is why she doesn't know much of Quidditch."

"Viktor has told me you are a Misinformed Muggle," replied Mamo Krum, "yet you seem to know more about the game than she does. English witches are all the same. Have not seen the world, do not accept others…_prude_."

Ekatrine tried her hardest not to agree readily with Mamo Krum. She had just admitted to herself that she was jealous of Hermoine, but wasn't comfortable with back-talking the girl. She lifted the tray and left the kitchen, Mamo Krum in her wake with the teapot.

"_Such a good boy, Krystof_," said Mamo Krum as they entered the room. "_Giving me a break…very sveet of you_."

"_It is not a problem_," replied Ekatrine, gently placing the tray on the smaller table in the room. She had a feeling that Madame Krum was speaking in English for a reason, and so she mimicked the older lady.

"_Tea_?" asked Mamo Krum, holding a cup up for Hermoine to take.

"_Thank you, Mrs. Krum_," replied the English girl. She sipped the tea slowly, letting it warm her. She was still dressed in her coat, scarf and gloves.

Ekatrine let out a slow breath and asked, trying to prove to Viktor that she was not jealous, "_Vould you like me to take your coat_?"

"_Oh, thank you_," Hermoine replied. "_I forgot I was wearing it_."

"I'm sure," said Mamo Krum.

Viktor looked at his mother with mild annoyance. "Mamo, she is our guest."

"So is Krystof," replied Mamo Krum. "He should not be taking her coat!"

Hermoine sipped her tea silently, wondering to herself what the three Bulgarians were talking about.

"_I vill take your coat_," Krum said abruptly.

"_Thank you_," she replied, taking her coat off and glancing over at Krystof curiously. As Viktor went to hang her jacket, gloves, and scarf, Hermoine asked, "_Viktor told me you are on your Houses Quidditch Team. A Beater, right_?"

Krystof nodded, though Hermoine had already mentioned that she knew this bit of information before. "_Yes_."

"_That's pretty nice_," she said softly. "_I wish I knew more about the game._"

Here, Ekatrine glanced at Madame Krum, who had stood up and left the room to "refill" the teapot. "_It is a good game to know_."

Hermoine nodded, watching as Viktor sat back down beside his teammate. "_Viktor, how have you been_?"

"_I haff been good_," replied the boy. "_Very busy. And you_?"

"_I've been so busy with school and…_" her voice lowered and she whispered, "…the Order…_it's been very hard to keep up with school and that as well, but I think I'll manage it_."

"_Yes, I think you vill_," replied Viktor carefully.

_She is his guest_, Ekatrine forced herself to think. _She is his guest, nothing more…his guest…_

"_Krystof, come and help me_!" came Mamo Krum's voice again.

"_I vill help you, Mamo_," replied Krum, standing up. He glanced over at Ekatrine, who had been preparing to stand.

Once Viktor had left the room, Hermoine said, "_I would like to see you play, Krystof_."

"_Play? Play vhat_?" Ekatrine asked, silently wondering to herself why Mamo Krum and Viktor were taking so long.

"_Why, Quidditch, of course_," replied Hermoine with a smile. "_Viktor has told me so much about your skills, and I would love to see them. My friend, Harry, is a Seeker, and Ron is a Keeper_."

Ekatrine's eyes shifted and she said, "_So I haff heard. They are good, yes_?"

"_Yes_," she replied softly, her brown eyes lowering under her lashes. "_They are very good_."

"_Good_," replied Ekatrine, feeling quite awkward around the younger girl. She sat back in her chair, trying to see into the kitchen. She could see Viktor's hands and back, but nothing else.

"_How often do you play_?"

"_Vhat? Oh, every veek ve practice_," replied Ekatrine distractedly.

"_What's Durmstrang like_?" Hermoine finally asked. She had been burning to know since the previous year.

Ekatrine turned her eyes back to the girl. "_It is good. Many boys, smaller than Hogvarts_."

"_How many Houses are there? Is it true they don't have any female teachers?_"

"_There are five Houses_," replied Ekatrine, trying to be quick. "_And yes, no vomen teachers_."

"_Oh_," said Hermoine, blushing. "_I didn't see you last year with Viktor. Did you come to the Tri-Wizard Tournament_?"

"_No_," replied Ekatrine, now becoming annoyed that Viktor and his mother had still not returned and had left her in such an awkward position. "_I vas not in school then_."

"_Where were you_?"

"_I vas in the Muggle school_," replied Ekatrine truthfully.

"_But you're a seventh year, aren't you_?"

"_Yes_."

"_Then why where you in a Muggle school_?"

"_I am…how you call it…a Mistold Muggle_," Ekatrine replied with some difficulty. She didn't know English very well, and felt she was making a fool of herself. "_I did not know I vas magic until this time_."

"_I didn't know they still had Misinformed Muggles_," Hermoine said. "_I thought they had been eliminated with the improvement of magic…_"

"_Vell, I guess I haff missed that letter_," replied Ekatrine, tapping her slender fingers on the arm of the chair she was in. She kept glancing towards the kitchen. She could still see Viktor's back, but he had not moved and was talking in a very low voice with his mother.

Hermoine laughed at Ekatrine's statement.

"_Vhat_?" she asked, turning back to the bushy-haired girl.

Hermoine blushed and said, "_Sorry, it was funny. What you said, I mean. You meant it to be funny, right_?"

"_Sure thing_," replied Ekatrine, distracted. "_I vill go and see vhat is taking them so long. Excuse me._" She stood up and left Hermoine, who was looking at her hands, her face still red.

Ekatrine knocked on the wall and looked into the room.

Both Krum's turned around and looked at her. Viktor's face was ghostly white, as was his mother's.

"What is it?" Ekatrine asked.

Viktor moved aside, and nailed to the outside of the back door was a dead rabbit. Written under the rabbit carved into the door and showered in blood was a glowing message:

Ekatrine stared at the message, her heart pounding in her ears. "Viktor…what…?"

"We just found it," said Mamo Krum bitterly. "Krystof, I think they are speaking of you."

She nodded slowly, her head filled with dizziness. She looked at Viktor and said, "I…Viktor…"

"We have to call Headmaster Karkaroff," Viktor said. "He's the only one who can help you now."

"Why not Dumbledore?" asked Mamo Krum. "He's the only one who…I mean…" She was very distraught that her spell had been broken and someone had been able to get so close to her home without her knowing.

Hermoine entered the kitchen at that moment. She saw the dead rabbit and asked, "_What's going on_?"

Viktor turned to her and replied, "_I think it vould be vise if you left, Her-moi-ninny. You cannot stay here vith this_."

"_Why not_?" she demanded, coming further into the room. The warning was in Bulgarian, not English, so to her it looked like a bunch of scribbles.

"_Her-moi-ninny, I think you should call your papa and haff him come and get you_," said Mamo Krum. "_Somezhing has happened_."

She was looking at the door still. "_What does it say_?"

"_Never you be minding that_," replied Mamo Krum. "_I vant you to call your papa and go back to England_."

"_No_," replied Hermoine. "_Whatever's happening it has to be important. I want to stay and help_!"

"_You cannot_," replied Krystof suddenly. "_This has nothing to do vith you, Hermoine. You should go home._"

Hermoine, slightly shocked that the boy had pronounced her name correctly, replied slowly, "_It has something to do with You-Know-Who, doesn't it_?"

None of the others replied right away, then finally Krystof stepped forward and said, "_Yes, Hermoine. It does, and ve can't haff you here. You might get hurt_."

"_Well I'm not leaving_," she replied. "_I can help you. If You-Know-Who is here, then—_"

"_No_," replied Mamo Krum and Viktor.

"_Krystof is right, Her-moi-ninny_," said Viktor softly. "_If it is the Dark Lord, ve can't haff you here. He vill not rest until anyvone vho knows Krystof is dead_."

"_What'll happen to you, then_?" she asked.

Ekatrine could tell that she still cared for Viktor, though her feelings were more those of a close friend, not a lover.

"_Ve vill find out a vay to make it through_," replied Mamo Krum with a smile. "_Ve haff done if before, and ve vill do it again. I am sorry you cannot say_."

Hermoine nodded, knowing that even if she argued with them, she was just wasting the little time they had to prepare. "_I'll find Dumbledore and tell him. Don't worry, Viktor, everything will be all right. You'll see_."

Mamo Krum nodded and watched as Hermoine left the room to call her father. She turned back to Ekatrine and asked, "What does the message mean?"

Ekatrine was seconds from replying when there was a bright flash and Mamo Krum suddenly collapsed to the floor with a cry.

"MAMO!" Viktor cried, kneeing beside his mother. "Mamo, wake up!"

Ekatrine shut the door quickly. "We have to get you out of here!"

"_What happened_?" Hermoine cried, running into the kitchen. She looked around, her eyes wild.

Mamo Krum pushed herself up, her side bleeding heavily. "Viktor…Floo…fire…get out of here."

Viktor helped his mother to her feet, Ekatrine stumbling backwards. He looked over to Hermoine and said, "_Her-moi-ninny, take my Mamo…there is Floo Powder in the fireplace. Take her to Hogvarts_."

Hermoine nodded and took the thin woman. She left the room, and Ekatrine turned to Viktor. "Viktor, you should go with your Mamo and Hermoine. I can—"

"No," Viktor replied sternly. "_We_ are going with them. If anyone can help us, it is Dumbledore."

He pulled Ekatrine from the room and into the sitting room where Hermoine and Madame Krum disappeared in a green flash of Floo Powder.

"We must go with them," Krum said. "You first."

"No, Krum, we can go together," she replied, grabbing his hand.

A green flash erupted in the kitchen and Ekatrine yanked Krum into the fireplace. She could hear footsteps as people raced into the Krum household. Viktor grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, but before he could yell for Hogwarts, Ekatrine said quickly, "_HOME_!"

There was a burst of green flame, and the two of the disappeared into the fire.

"_Vhere did zey go_?"

"_Home, vherever zat is. Come, ve must go_."

"_Vhere_?"

"_Hogvarts. Zat is vhere the old voman and girl are going, yes_?"

The two men left the room, their black capes twisting behind them.


	5. PART FIVE: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

**PART FIVE:**

**ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**

Ekatrine and Viktor exploded from a fireplace, landing hard together on the floor. Viktor stood up and whirled around, his wand out. He looked around the burned and charred remains of a house.

"Where are we?"

Ekatrine stood up very slowly, her brown eyes wary. "This is my home…or, at least what's left of it."

"Why are we not at Hogwarts?" asked Krum, turning back to her.

"If we went to Hogwarts, they would have found us," she replied. "This way your mother and Hermoine are safer and Dumbledore has time to prepare."

Viktor lowered his wand slightly and asked, "What if they find us here?"

"I want you to go to Hogwarts from here," Ekatrine said, picking up a broken bottle of powder from the floor of her home. Now that she had seen Floo Powder, she knew what the strange stuff was. Her parents had kept it beside the fireplace, forbidding her to ever touch it. "Tell Dumbledore. He can help you."

"What? No," replied Viktor. "I'm not leaving you."

"Viktor—"

"No," replied Viktor sternly. "If one of us goes to Hogwarts, we both go. I'm not leaving you."

Ekatrine took in a long breath. She had a feeling that as soon as they showed up at Hogwarts, they would be surrounded by Death-Eaters and darkness. The feeling was not a welcome one.

"Please, Viktor," she said softly. "It's the safest place right now. I want you and the others to be safe. Please…"

Viktor grabbed her by the arm and replied, "No. Not now, not ever. You and I are a team—Beater and Seeker, Viktorn'Krystof." He smiled. "_Viktorn'Ekatrine_. If I lose you…" he lowered his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers. "I don't want to leave you."

Ekatrine opened her mouth to argue again, but Viktor interrupted her. "Ekat, not even Alexander the Great could win a battle alone. Even he needed help once in a while. You can be Alexander, and I will be your army. We will work together to defeat whatever it is that comes our way."

Finally she nodded. "Fine…but you can't take any unnecessary actions. I don't want to see you die."

Viktor whispered, "Even Alexander's army was willing to die for him."

"You're not going to die," replied Ekatrine sternly.

He smiled. Sometimes Ekatrine made a better mother than his own Mamo. "Are we going to stay here, or go and find Dumbledore?"

Ekatrine rubbed the back of her neck, trying to think. "Do you think whoever shot at us heard Hermoine say Hogwarts?"

"They might have," replied Viktor slowly. "Come, I think it is best we go there instead of here. Here we are unprotected, there we are protected." He led her over to the fireplace and the two of them went into it.

Ekatrine held the Floo Powder and shouted, "HOGWARTS!" The two of them disappeared in a flash of green flame.

"_I'm sure they're on their way, Professor_," Hermoine said as she led Professor Dumbledore to the fire grate from which she and Madame Krum had come out. Madame Krum was now in the infirmary, her side being mended by Madame Pomfry.

"_What exactly happened, Miss Granger_?" asked Dumbledore carefully, watching her over his half-moon spectacles.

Hermoine quickly explained what she had seen. She said, "_I don't know why they haven't come yet…I'm—VIKTOR_!"

Viktor Krum and Ekatrine Logachov stepped out of the fireplace, their bodies covered in soot and char. Viktor looked up, his eyes falling on the girl and the elderly wizard beside her.

"_Mr. Krum_," said Dumbledore with a nod.

"_Vhere is my Mamo_?" Viktor asked quickly. "_Is she…_?"

"_She is fine_," replied Dumbledore. "_Madame Pomfry is tending to her as we speak_."

Viktor nodded, relaxing.

"_Do the Death-Eaters know where you are_?" asked Dumbledore, his eyes falling onto Ekatrine.

She shivered. Even though she still resembled a boy, she had the feeling that Dumbledore knew who she was. "_I vould guess that they do, sir_."

He nodded and looked to Hermoine. "_I would like you to take Viktor to his mother, please Miss Granger_."

"_No_," Viktor replied sternly. "_She vill be fine, yes? That is all I vould need to know_."

"_Mr. Krum, I must speak with Miss Logachov_," replied Dumbledore.

Hermoine looked confused, her eyes searching for the Miss Logachov Dumbledore had mentioned.

Dumbledore saw Hermoine's confusion and said, "_I think it would be fine if you removed the spell, Miss Logachov. No one here will harm you_."

Ekatrine pulled her wand from her pocket and murmured, "_Tranmendo_." Her form immediately changed and beside Viktor Krum stood the light-skinned Russian witch. She looked at Hermoine, who had let her jaw drop.

"_You're a girl_!" she said.

Ekatrine nodded. "Da, _Ekatrine Logachov_."

"_Miss Granger, please take Mr. Krum to his mother, now_," instructed Dumbledore kindly.

"_I vill not leave her_," said Viktor, holding Ekatrine's hand tightly. "_Ve promised not to leave each other, and so I vill not_."

"_Mr. Krum, I understand and respect your feelings, but as long as she is with me, I believe Miss Logachov will not come into any harm_."

"_It is not you I do not trust_," replied Viktor, still holding his wand. "_It is the castle and the people inside. I still remember Cedric's death—ve all do. This castle is not as safe as you vould haff us believe_."

Dumbledore nodded, turning his blue eyes to Ekatrine. "_I really must speak to you, and you alone. It doesn't matter if you tell him later, but I cannot say anything to him directly_."

Ekatrine nodded, and gently squeezed Viktor's hand. "_It is fine, Viktor. I vill be fine. Go and see your Mamo_."

He looked at her uncertainly.

"_Ve vill be right outside_," she assured him.

Finally he let go of her hand and followed Hermoine down the hallway and into the infirmary.

"_Come, let us move away from the fireplace_," said Dumbledore, waving his wand at the firepit. "_No one will be coming in that way, but you can't be too sure_."

Ekatrine nodded and the two of them stood nearer to the infirmary door. Dumbledore looked down at her and smiled. "_I wish that your mother and father had attended Hogwarts. They were a good pair_."

Ekatrine looked past him and through the crack in the infirmary door at Viktor and his mother.

"_Madame Krum will be fine_," said Dumbledore seeing Ekatrine's worry. "_She was hit with a curse, but thankfully it merely grazed her side_."

"_I am glad she vill be fine_," replied Ekatrine. She turned her brown eyes to Dumbledore. "_Vhat is it you vere vishing to speak vith me of_?"

"_I want to know about the accident_," Dumbledore replied. "_Do you remember anything? Anything at all_?"

Ekatrine shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Viktor's clothes were even baggier on her now that she had lost so much muscle mass, and her shoes were most definitely too big. She thought of these things as she tried to figure out how to answer the older wizard's question.

He was very patient, his eyes focused kindly on her face. He reminded her of Dusan. The sallow boy had been very cold on the outside, but he still held an air of kindness that Dumbledore matched.

Finally she replied, "_All I know is that my parents vere dead vhen I voke up. I do not know vhat happened, but that it vas my fault and they died because of me_."

He nodded. "_Do you remember being put under a spell? Knowing what was going on, but not being able to stop it_?"

"_You are speaking of the Imperious Course, yes_?" she asked, remembering the three Unforgivable Curses from her Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. After he nodded, she replied, "_No, I vas not under that one. I do not remember anything, except I voke up and my parents vere dead_."

"_And you're certain this was your fault_?"

"_It must haff been_," she replied. "_That strange man from the Ministry came and found me in the Archangel Hospital. He said I vas…a Mistold Muggle. I did not know I vas magic until that night…until my family died by my hands_."

Dumbledore nodded once again, patient. "_So you do think it was your fault, then_?"

"_That is vhat I haff said_," she replied, growing annoyed. She knew he was just trying to find out what had happened so he could help her, but his repeated questions were only agitating her. "_Is there any vay I can contact my friends? They vill vant to know of Krum and I being here_."

"_Do you think they will be able to help_?"

"_Dusan vill_," she replied, confident. "_He is very much like you. He can switch himself in two places in one time_."

Dumbledore tried to understand what she had just said, but soon came to understand. "_You mean he can put himself into two different places at once_?"

She nodded, "_Is vhat I said_."

The older wizard pulled at his beard and finally replied, "_I think he could be useful, but even so, I cannot allow your friends to be endangered by this situation. Mr. Krum and his mother are already in too much danger as it is_."

"_Vhat are you going to do vith me, then_?" she asked.

"_The Minister of Magic will be here soon_," replied Dumbledore. "_He will take you back to the Ministry where you will stay until we can be sure you are out of harms way_."

Ekatrine's eyes grew wide. "_You cannot do that! I must stay here! Vith Viktor and his Mamo. They are hurt because of me…_"

"_And that is why we must have you protected and removed from them_," replied Dumbledore.

"_They killed Ilya_," said Ekatrine very softly. "_They killed him because he vas someone I once knew. They vill kill Viktor and his mother to get to me. They must also be protected_."

Dumbledore couldn't help but smile at the girls' fiery argument. "_That may be true, but—_"

"_You know it is true_," she said hotly. "_They must be kept safe, too. Not here, it is too dangerous. You said that. They must come vith me. If this Ministry is safer than here, then they must come vith me and be safe, too_."

The older wizard let a long silence slide between them before finally replying, "_If you can remember anything about the night your parents died, you will tell me. Try to remember, and I will try to convince Fudge to let Viktor and his mother join you_."

She nodded, and closed her eyes, concentrating. Finally she replied, "_I can remember nothing, but if I do, I vill let you know_."

"_Fair enough_," replied Dumbledore, but she could see he was disappointed.

"_Vait_," she said, "_there…my mother vas a Quidditch Player. Mamo Krum said so. She vas also a Death-Eater. Is that…does it help_?"

Dumbledore nodded and said, "_Yes, I believe it does_."

She could tell he was just saying that to make her feel better. He had known this information all along, it seemed.

"_You can go in and see Viktor and Madame Krum, now_," he said, motioning towards the door. "_The Minister of Magic will be here for you soon_."

Ekatrine nodded and said softly, "_Thank you, sir_."

He watched as she slipped into the room, placing her hand on Viktor's shoulder. He turned and smiled up at her, the two of them talking softly in Bulgarian.

Dumbledore saw Hermoine Granger sitting beside the unconscious woman as well and motioned for her to come with him. She stood and say goodbye to Viktor and Ekatrine.

"_Is everything okay_?" she asked.

He nodded. "_Yes, I believe everything will be fine_." He smiled down at her and continued, "_You should go back to your Common Room. I believe Harry and Ron are still in the castle for the Holiday's. Be careful, Miss Granger. Things as of the moment have not been completely cared for_." He motioned at her a goodnight, and returned to the hospital wing.

She continued down the hallway, wondering what Dumbledore had meant. She decided that it didn't currently matter, and so she went back to her friends and told them of the occurrences of the last few hours.

Ekatrine sat, Viktor in her arms. Madame Krum had been moved out of the Hogwarts infirmary and into a well-protected Ministry one. The two of them were sitting in another part of the Ministry.

It had taken Dumbledore nearly five minutes to convince Fudge that Viktor Krum and his mother should be taken with her. Fudge hadn't liked the idea, but had finally given in, in the interest of time.

"Do you think Mamo will be okay?" he asked again, his concern genuine.

"Yes," replied Ekatrine softly. "Your Mamo is very strong, Viktor. She will be fine."

He nodded, his head brushing against her chin. "Do you think we're safe here?"

"Apparently they do," replied Ekatrine, looking at the two Aurors that had been assigned to protect them. "But I do not think we are safe anywhere."

Again she felt the brush of his hair as he nodded. "Mamo is safe, though…she is not a target."

Ekatrine was sure Viktor was saying this to convince himself that his mother was fine a number of floors above them. She only kissed his ear and said, "You should go and be with her."

"I will not leave you," he replied, his hand tightly around hers, his wand in his other hand. "I will not let you stay here alone."

She smiled sadly and replied, "I will not be alone. They will be here," she motioned at the Aurors.

"I don't trust them," he said coldly. "They are English, and the Ministry is not well-known for its ability to fight well."

"I suppose you're right," she said.

"So now we will wait," he said softly, curling up tighter in her arms. "Now we will wait…"

The dark arms of night spread across the countryside, taking Hogwarts under its dark blanket.

Outside of the school grounds the two men Apperated. They looked up at the school, talking in low voices, "_Their presence has gone_."

"_I do not like the feeling_," replied the other softly. "_They must haff taken them to the Ministry_."

"_All three_," scowled the other. "_Ve vill kill the boy if he gets in the vay again_."

"_Vhat about his mother_?"

"_She is of no concern to the Dark Lord_," he replied. "_It is the girl he vants. He does not vant her to become as famous as the Potter boy…he cannot haff another veakness_."

"_She killed her parents_," replied the other, "_and he let her escape. Vhat I don't understand is vhy. If he vants her dead so badly, vhy let her live and escape into the Ministry's hands_?"

"_His Majesty vorks in strange vays_," he replied. "_So I vould not qvestion him_."

"_Do you suppose he used the girl to find out if Karkaroff is still vith him_?"

"_I do not qvestion anything the Dark lord says or does_," sneered the other man "_And you should not either. Come, let us go. The Ministry vill be expecting us, and ve are not vanting to disappoint them, are ve_?"

The two men Disapperated with a loud crack.

Viktor's eyes snapped open at a loud scream. He jumped and felt Ekatrine jump, too. The Aurors before their door were both holding their wands out. They lifted their fingers to their lips, motioning for the two to be silent.

Ekatrine looked over at Viktor. She could hardly see him in the deep shadows of the dark room, but saw that he was worried. His mother was alone.

She placed her hand on his, but he did not react.

Another cry came, this time much closer. Ekatrine took in a deep, shaking breath. The two Aurors had slipped out of the room, their wands ready to be used.

Viktor slowly stood up, Ekatrine in his wake. They walked over to the door and peered out through the crack. A bright green light could be seen as someone used the Avada Kedavra Curse.

Viktor pushed Ekatrine against the wall as the wall beside them exploded. He then pulled her back into the corner of the room. He pushed her against it, standing before her, his wand raised.

She gently moved beside him, her own wand raised. She knew she wasn't nearly as advanced with magic as Viktor was, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to help fight.

"_You go and find the prophecy, Malfoy_," came a voice from down the hall. "_Take the others vith you. I can take the girl by myself_."

"_Yes, Sir_," replied a smooth voice.

"We should Disapperate," Ekatrine whispered into Krum's ear.

He was shaking, and Ekatrine could see that he was sweating, his raised arms trembling.

"_Stop right there_!" one of the Aurors called. He yelled something else and there was a huge flash of light. There was another flash of light—green this time—and a loud _thump_.

The second Auror was holding his ground, trying to keep the spell-caster at bay. She was shouting a number of enchantments so quickly that neither Krum nor Ekatrine could tell what she was saying.

"_Oh, be qviet_," muttered the other, and another flash of green light came from the attackers wand. The second Auror fell to the ground.

Viktor pushed Ekatrine behind him.

"We should Disapperate!" she said quickly. She grabbed his hand. "We can—"

The door burst open and a shadowed figure entered the room. A chill expanded outwards from the figure, and Ekatrine felt her bones go cold. The figure looked around, and his eyes fell onto her.

"_Ah, yes_," he said softly. "_The girl…hiding behind…vho is this_?" The man paused, looking Viktor up and down. "_Ah, Krum. Very…interesting. Vell, you're of no use now, are you_?"

Ekatrine, thinking the wizard was going to kill Viktor, shoved him aside and waved her wand, crying, "_Don't hurt him_!"

The Death-Eater laughed and said, "_I vas not_."

Viktor pulled Ekatrine close to himself, trying again to protect her. "_Vhat…vhat are you going to do_?" she asked, her wand quivering in the air.

"_The Dark Lord has asked me to keep you alive_," he looked down at the girl. "_At least, for now_." His eyes rose back up to Viktor, mildly curious. "_Do you love him_?"

Ekatrine didn't answer.

"_I vill ask you again, and this time, you vill answer me_," he said, his wand now pointing lazily at the Durmstrang boy.

"_Don't hurt him_," she said softly. "_Please, don't hurt him…_"

"_Of course, but_ do you love him?"

"_If I did, you vould kill him_," she said softly, her eyes locked onto the dark figure before her.

He considered this and finally replied, "_A servant of the Dark Lord cannot have love for anyvone_."

"_I don't serve him_," she snarled, her wand once again raised. A small voice in her head kept whispering to her, teeling her the voice was familier. She shoved it aside. "_And I never vill_!"

"_Your mother said the same thing_," replied the Death-Eater curiously. "_She begged that the Dark Lord not ask her such favors, but in the end she gave vay to him. She didn't come villingly at first, but then she did_." Ekatrine could see his white teeth from under his hood. "_And so vill you_."

"_Never_," she replied.

Viktor was holding tight to her, his eyes glued to the man before them. "_She vill not join you_."

The man looked at Viktor and smiled wider, his teeth showing yet again. "_So say you. But vhat do you know of her? Did you know she vas alvays curious about the Dark Lord? Oh, it is true. She vondered about him the entire time she vas reading the books_."

Viktor ignored him and said coldly, "_You vill not take her. She vill not go vith you_."

"_I am curious, vhy you haff not attacked me. You know I vork for the Dark lord, yet here ve are, arguing over this_," he cocked his head slightly, looking at Viktor with much curiosity. "_I vould think you vould try and kill me_."

"_I am not a killer_," Viktor replied heartily. "_I vill never be a killer_."

The man nodded, "_I expected as much. You never did haff any heart, Viktor. You never did whatever it takes to vin. Even your Quidditch came second to your heart_."

The man lowered his hood and both Ekatrine and Viktor gasped, pulling away. Under the hood was none other than—

"VLADIMIR!" Viktor roared. "What are you doing?!"

Vladimir Volkova smirked, waving his wand lazily. "You thought I never paid attention, didn't you? You thought I never saw—even after the tryouts—how you looked at Krystof Uriov. But I did…I saw." He gloated, "I knew there was something different about Uriov, and when the two of you had that fight…well, I knew it then! You see, Serge can hardly keep a secret to himself. He wanted to tell Karkaroff, but found me instead and told me everything."

Viktor's face reddened, anger boiling inside of him. He pulled Ekatrine behind him, his wand held before him. "I should have killed you."

"But you didn't," replied Vladimir softly. "You, instead, regained control of your anger and let me go. What a mistake…you knew I would come back for you...besides, you don't have the heart of a killer. A lover, but not a killer."

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" Viktor shouted, but Vladimir flicked his wand and the spell was blocked. He said softly, "_Expelliarmus_!"

Viktor's wand flew across the room, disappearing into the darkness.

"_EXPELLIA_—"

Vladimir hit her, and she collapsed to the hard ground, her nose broken, blood flowing from the wound and from her mouth.

Viktor aimed a punch at the other boy, but the other boy merely snapped, "_Petrificus Totalus_." Viktor froze. "You don't honestly think that I was given this assignment because I could be defeated with a punch, do you?" he smirked. "Of course, you caught me off-guard before…and it would have been very obvious of me to use the Killing Curse on you then…but now you're quite alone. No Karkaroff here to save you." He raised his wand and opened his mouth. "_Avad—_"

Ekatrine jumped to her feet and plowed into his stomach. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" She pulled her own wand out and screamed, "_AVADA KADAVRA_!"

A cloud of green sparks exploded from her wand, firing at the younger boy. He was laughing, his eyes glowing. "I KNEW IT! She's a keeper, Krum! She's a—"

Krum stumbled forward, collapsing to the ground, his eyes wide. He turned to Ekatrine, who had a trail of tears rolling down her face. "Oh…Oh my _God_…"

Viktor turned his eyes to the dead boy, his own stomach ill.

"…Oh my God…I'm…I'm a murderer," she whispered, dropping her wand. She backed away from the body, collapsing against the wall. "I'm a _murderer_…"

Viktor scrambled over to her and pulled her into his arms. "It's okay…it's okay…he was going to kill you…"

"_No_," Ekatrine whispered, collapsing into his arms. "No, no, no…"

"Well, well…isn't this cute?"

Viktor turned around, his eyes falling onto the other man who had been with Vladimir before. He looked the two over, his eyes finding his bloody comrade.

"_Lumos_." The entire room filled with light. "The Avada Kadavra Curse, hm?" he kicked the boy onto his back and made a tisking noise. "I expected as much from him. Too head-strong, you know…never did play very well…"

Viktor's eyes shot over to where his wand lay. With the light coming from the other Death-Eaters wand, he could see it clear as day.

"Oh, that's what you want?" the Death-Eater had turned his eyes back to the two teenagers. "Well, I don't think so." He waved his own wand and both Ekatrine and Viktor's wands glided into his hand. "Hmm…now what shall I do with you? I know the Dark Lord wanted her alive…but Viktor Krum? I have a feeling that I could have some fun with you." He turned his cold eyes to Vladimir's limp body. "Fool. He should have killed you."

Ekatrine held Viktor close to her. She watched as the larger Death-Eater approached them, his wand raised. "There is a torturing curse…should I use it on him, my dear? I think that would be lovely, don't you?"

"No!" Ekatrine rasped. "Don't hurt him!"

"How sweet," said the Death-Eater, looking rather sickened. "You love him, don't you?"

"If you hurt him…" she said threateningly.

"You'll what? I have both your wands, in case you didn't notice, and I am not inclined to return them to you anytime soon." The Death-Eater was watching them carefully. Finally he said, "You think you can defeat me, don't you? You think because you used magic without a wand before, you can do it again. Well, perhaps I had better enlighten you a little…the Dark Lord killed your parents, not you. You're a pawn, Ekatrine." He was grinning, but the grin was cold, emotionless. "You're as useful as the Dark Lord wants you to be, and as soon as he is done with you, you'll join your dead parents and your precious Ilya."

Ekatrine felt her blood boil. "_You_ killed Ilya?!"

"Of course," replied the man. "Well, Vladimir attempted to first, but I ended up finishing the job."

She screamed, "You're a monster!"

"So I've been told," replied the man with a sick grin. He turned his eyes back to Viktor, who was sitting in front of her. "Now then, what curse should I kill him with? The Killing Curse is so dull, and it seems to have been used already…how about…_Crucio_!"

Ekatrine shoved Viktor aside and took the blow, a loud scream emitting from her. Her body began to jerk around, her neck and back snapping. Blood began to drip again from her nose and mouth.

"STOP!" Viktor screamed. "Leave her alone!"

The Death-Eater hardly seemed to care. "She put herself in that position. What a shame…she does love you, after all."

Viktor stood and rammed himself into the Death-Eater, sending the larger man back a few steps. He dropped the wands and Viktor grabbed one crying, "_PETRIFICUS TOTALUS_!"

The Death-Eater froze, but Ekatrine was still screaming and writing about on the floor, her back making crunching sounds.

"EKATRINE!" Viktor raced over to her side, looking down into her face. "Hold on, Ekatrine! I'll…I'll…" he began to sob, trying to think of someway to stop her pain. He didn't know any counter-spell for the curse.

She continued to scream, her body jolting from side to side. She couldn't hear Viktor's words, and was too blinded by the pain that seared through her body to see him. Suddenly she stopped moving, her body going limp in his hands.

"Ekatrine?" whispered Viktor, gently shaking her. "Ekatrine? Wake up…come on…wake up! Please!"

She didn't reply, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling above. Blood ran in small streams from her pale lips and nose. Her ears were bleeding, too, and her mouth hung open in a silent scream.

"Ekatrine!" Viktor screamed. "WAKE UP! _Obicham te_! Wake up, please!" He pressed his forehead against hers, tears rolling from his eyes into her open mouth. "Wake up! _Wake up_!"

A group of Aurors reached the door. They were covered in blood, their robes ripped. The surge of Death-Eaters within the Ministry had gotten the better of them, but they were still alive.

"_What happened_?" asked one, looking around the room. She spotted the dead Vladimir and the frozen Death-Eater. "_Get them out of here_." She pointed at the two in the black robes, and two Aurors cast the levitation spell, the bodies floating out of the room behind them.

"Ekatrine…" Krum whispered. "Please…please, _wake up_…"

"_Who is this_?"

"_Viktor Krum_," replied another Auror. "_He and Ekatrine Logachov were being kept here…You-Know-Who killed her parents and we thought he would come after her_."

"_Looks like you were right_," said the first Auror. She turned to Viktor and said softly, "_Come on, Viktor. Let's go…_" She placed a hand on the trembling boys' shoulder, but he didn't move.

"_Ekatrine…_" he wailed. "Oh, _Ekatrine_…wake up…_please_, wake up…"

The Aurors looked over his shoulder and saw the dead girl in his arms. They glanced at one another, and finally they left the room, keeping the door open behind them. They stood outside in silence, waiting for the mourning boy to emerge.

"Ekatrine, you know _obicham te_…" he whispered, crying. "You know it…please…wake up. _Obicham te_…love fixes everything…it fixes everything…wake up…_please_…"

When she didn't reply, he pressed his lips to her forehead, remembering the good times he had had with her. He pressed his lips to her cold ones, hoping that somehow she would wake up, throw her arms around him, and kiss him back.

He pulled away and held her close, sobbing when she didn't move.

Viktor sat beside his mother, his eyes focused out the window of the hospital. Mamo Krum was much better, but her side was still badly burnt. The curse had made it so that the wound would probably never heal.

"Viktor," she whispered, her eyes meeting his. "I'm so sorry…"

He forced a smile, but didn't reply. He had finished telling his mother the entire story—how Krystof was Ekatrine, how she had come to Durmstrang, and what had happened.

She placed her hand on his, rubbing her thumb over the back of it. She took his silence respectfully and turned her own eyes window-ward.

Viktor lowered his eyes to the two wands in his hand. One was his, the crooked but smooth wood familiar. The other was Ekatrine's. It, too, was smooth, but carved along one of the sides was a heart, and within the heart, their initials.

…"_The thing is," one of the Aurors had said when the Death-Eaters had been taken from the room, "he used her wand to cast the last spell. Have you ever seen that before? A wizard using someone else's wand?"…_

He rubbed his finger over the carving, fresh tears rolling down his face.

It had hardly been a week since Ekatrine had died, and Christmas was soon to come. People in the hospital bounced around, the spirit of the Holiday's evident in their step.

Christmas songs hummed over the intercoms and speakers, trying in vain to reach the boys ears.

"I will see you later, Mamo," Viktor said softly. He stood and left the room, her eyes following him. She relaxed her head back against her pillow and closed her eyes, falling into a deep sleep.

Viktor walked down the hospital hallway and left, returning to the welcoming cold that the storm outside brought him.

He walked through the snow, his hand tightly around Ekatrine's wand. He continued walking until he disappeared into the snow, his heart heavy.


	6. Update!

Hello all!

For those of you who have asked, I am starting a sequel to _Viktor Krum and the Misinformed Muggle_. The first chapter is posted. It is not very long, because I am trying to get a feel for this story, since I have not read or written anything Harry Potter oriented for the last four years.

I hope you enjoy the sequel!

Sincerely,

Kira the Great


End file.
